THE  TARIFF  ACT  OF  1890  DEFENDED. 


SPEECH 


OR, 


OF   RHODE   ISLAND, 


SENATE  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES, 


TUESDAY,  JULY  26, 1892. 


WASHINGTON. 
1892. 


THE  TAEIFF  ACT  OF  1890  DEFENDED, 


SPEECH 


OF 


NELSON  W.  ALDRICH, 


OF  RHODE  ISLAND, 


IN  THE 


SENATE  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES, 


TUESDAY,  JULY  26, 1892. 


WASHINGTON. 
1892. 


SPEECH 

OF 

HON.   NELSON  W.  ALDRICH. 


The  Senate  having  under  consideration  the  resolution  submitted  by  Mr. 
HALE,  June  27,  1892,  directing  the  Committee  on  Finance  to  inquire  into  the 
effect  of  a  policy  of  "tariff  for  revenue  only"  upon  the  labor  and  industries 
of  the  United  States- 
Mr.  ALDRICH  said: 

Mr.  PRESIDENT:  It  is  evident  that  the  tariff  question  is  to  be- 
come, by  common  consent,  the  leading  issue  in  the  approaching 
Presidential  campaign.  The  radical  declarations  of  the  Demo- 
cratic platform  adopted  at  Chicago,  and  the  equally  radical  utter- 
ances of  leading  representatives  of  the  party,  insure  this  result. 
At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  have  the  lines  between 
the  two  great  parties  upon  this  question  been  so  clearly  defined. 
The  party  platforms  of  1892  declare  with  much  greater  candor 
than  is  customary  in  papers  of  this  kind  the  doctrines  of  their 
respective  parties.  The  Republicans  enter  the  campaign  dis- 
tinctively favoring  the  continuance  of  the  protective  policy,  and 
announcing  definitely  the  principles  which  should  control  tariff 
legislation,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Democrats  denounce 
protection  as  a  fraud,  declare  the  unconstitutionality  of  protec- 
tive tariff  duties,  and  make  a  special  and  vicious  attack  upon  the 
tariff  act  of  1890  as  the  culminating  atrocity  of  tariff  legislation. 
The  Democratic  platform  is  in  many  respects  a  radical  de- 
parture from  any  of  the  previous  official  utterances  of  the  party. 
At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  country,  except  in  the  course  of  the 
movement  for  nullification,  has  any  attempt  heretofore  been  made 
to  make  the  doctrine  of  the  unconstitutionality  of  protective  duties 
the  essential  element  of  a  political  creed.  The  steps  by  which 
the  Democracy  have  reached  the  radical  position  they  now  oc- 
cupy have  been  very  gradual.  The  Democratic  platforms  of  1884 
and  1888  were  so  constructed  as  to  secure  the  approval  of  a  large 

2  727 


number  of  incidental  protectionists  who  then  held  a  place,  nomi- 
nally, at  least,  in  the  Democratic  ranks;  but  in  the  platform  of 
1892  all  disguises  are  thrown  off  and  for  the  first  time  the  party 
is  arrayed  in  emphatic  antagonism  to  tariff  rates  which  contain 
any  element  of  protection. 

This  clear  alignment  of  parties  greatly  simplifies  the  discus- 
sion of  the  question.  It  removes  all  opportunity  for  possible 
differences  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  Republican  plan  of  cam- 
paign. The  friends  of  protection  must  wage  aggressive  warfare 
upon  the  revolutionary  doctrines  which,  although  long  secretly 
cherished  by  Democratic  leaders,  are  now  for  the  first  time 
openly  avowed.  The  attack  upon  the  indefensible  Democratic 
position  must  be  vigorous  and  persistent. 

I  regret  that  a  purpose  to  confine  my  remarks  to-day  to  an  ex- 
amination of  Democratic  criticisms  and  attacks  upon  the  tariff 
act  of  1890  precludes  me  from  entering  this  attractive  field.  I 
shall  not,  on  the  other  hand,  attempt  to-day  any  general  defense 
of  the  Republican  policy  of  protection.  The  progress  which  the 
country  has  made  under  its  beneficent  influences  during  the 
past  thirty  years  furnishes  the  best  proof  of  the  wisdom  shown 
in  its  adoption  and  retention  as  a  national  policy. 

Before  entering  upon  a  defense  of  the  act  of  1890,  however,  I 
will  say  that  the  f  ramers  and  supporters  of  this  measure  have 
never  claimed  that  it  was-  perfect  in  all  of  its  details;  but  not- 
withstanding this  limitation,  which,  I  infer,  must  be  applied  to 
all  legislative  enactments  covering  so  wide  a  field,  I  believe  that 
all  protectionists  are  willing  to  accept  the  measure  as  a  success- 
ful embodiment  of  Republican  principles  and  to  have  the  wisdom 
of  the  policy  they  advocate  adjudged  by  its  practical  results. 

The  tariff  plank  of  the  Chicago  platform  formulates  the  Dem- 
ocratic declaration  of  faith;  but  it  has  been  left  to  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  [Mr.  VEST],  who  seems  to  be  the  acknowledged 
representative  of  his  party  in  this  Chamber  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  tariff  legislation,  to  announce  in  detail  the  Democratic 
programme.  That  Senator  has  been  zealous  at  all  times  in  the 
advocacy  of  tariff  reform,  and  his  eloquence  and  ability  in  the 
treatment  of  the  subject  have  made  him  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous champions  of  the  cause. 

727 


His  acknowledged  leadership,  however,  in  this  regard  has 
never  been  quite  so  marked  as  at  this  session  of  Congress.  If 
any  other  Senators  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Chamber  have 
views  upon  this  subject  th  ey  have  not  declared  them  to  the  pub- 
lic. 

With  an  intrepidity  and  ability  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  the 
distinguished  Senator  has  singly  and  alone  upheld  the  free- 
trade  standard  of  his  party 

In  view  of  this  condition  of  affairs  I  shall  assume  that  the  two 
rather  remarkable  speeches  made  by  that  Senator  in  the  Senate 
on  the  6th  and  28th  of  June  fairly  represent  the  line  of  argu- 
ment which  is  to  be  followed  by  his  party  in  the  political  cam- 
paign upon  which  we  are  about  to  enter. 

As  I  shall  have  occasion  to  criticise  severely  most  of  the  state- 
ments contained  in  these  speeches,  I  am  bound  to  say  in  advance 
that  I  do  not  think  the  distinguished  Senator  can  be  fairly  held 
responsible  for  their  frequent  and  alarming  inaccuracies.  The 
honorable  Senator  has  undoubtedly  in  his  great  zeal  allowed 
himself  to  be  misled  by  designing  and  interested  parties,  who 
have  sought  to  use  his  great  reputation  and  high  character  to 
give  the  weight  of  authority  to  their  own  absurd  attempts  to 
further  mislead  and  deceive  the  American  people.  Most  of 
these  attempts  at  deception  are  so  transparent,  and  their  inac- 
curacies are  so  grotesquely  absurd  that  they  would  not  be  worthy 
of  notice  if  it  had  not  become  evident  that  they  were  to  be  given 
a  wide  circulation  in  the  approaching  campai  gn  upon  the  au- 
thority of  my  distinguished  friend. 

The  principal  objection  made  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
to  the  tariff  act  of  1890  is  that  which  was  urged  with  erreat  force 
and  effect  in  the  political  campaign  which  immediately  followed 
its  enactment,  namely,  that  through  a  large  advance  in  rates  it 
had  effected  a  considerable  increase  in  the  prices  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life  and  greatly  augmented  the  cost  of  living  of  all 
classes  of  people,  especially  of  the  poor. 

In  his  speech  of  June  28,  page  6177  of  the  RECORD,  the  Sen- 
ator from  Missouri  makes  the  following  plain  and  unequivocal 
statement: 

I  am  prepared  to  show  that  the  McKinley  act  has  had  the  effect  of  Increas- 
ing prices  upon  the  necessaries  of  life  to  the  people  of  this  country,  and  that 
727 


the  statement  In  his  resolution  [referring  to  the  Senator  from  Maine]  that 
an  area  of  cheapness  in  the  necessaries  of  life  Is  being  brought  to  the  people 
of  the  United  States  is  absolutely  and  unconditionally  false. 

One  of  the  principal  purposes  of  the  tariff  inquiry  ordered  by 
the  Senate  resolution  of  March  3,  1891,  was  to  ascertain  with 
accuracy  whether  this  claim  of  the  opponents  of  protection  was 
justified  by  the  actual  results.  An  investigation  into  the  course 
of  prices  and  cost  of  living1,  much  more  extensive  and  thorough  / 
than  was  ever  before  attempted,  was  instituted.  The  committee 
determined  to  ascertain  the  relative  prices  paid  by  actual  con- 
sumers for  all  articles  of  general  consumption  at  retail  in  every 
part  of  the  United  States  on  the  first  of  each  month  from  June, 
1889,  to  September,  1891.  This  embraced  a  period  of  seventeen 
months  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1890  and  eleven  months 
subsequent  to  that  date.  The  quotations  were  in  all  cases  se- 
cured from  actual  sales,  taken  from  the  books  of  merchants  in 
seventy  different  cities  and  towns  in  the  different  States  and 
Territories.  The  places  at  which  quotations  were  obtained  were 
selected  with  the  view  of  covering  the  entire  country  geograph- 
ically, and  included  typical  commercial,  manufacturing,  and  ag- 
ricultural communities.  The  prices  were  secured  by  the  trained 
experts  of  the  Department  of  Labor  with  the  greatest  care. 

The  list  of  two  hundred  and  fifteen  articles  on  which  monthly 
prices  were  thus  obtained  was  carefully  selected  by  the  unani- 
mous action  of  the  committee,  with  a  view  of  covering  every 
possible  expenditure  of  a  family  in  the  average  condition  of  life, 
that  is  with  an  income  of  $500  to  $1,000  per  annum. 

The  results  of  this  comprehensive  and  exhaustive  inquiry  are 
contained  in  the  report  recently  made  by  the  Finance  Committee. 
This  report  covers  2,300  printed  pages  and  contains  more  than 
1,200,000  different  quotations. 

The  inquiry  was  thoroughly  nonpartisan,  and  every  possible 
care  was  taken  to  give  to  it  a  character  which  would  entitle  the 
results  secured  to  the  highest  weight  of  authority.  This  investi- 
gation clearly  establishes  the  fact  that  a  decline  instead  of  an 
advance  has  taken  place  in  the  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life 
and  the  resulting  cost  of  living  since  the  adoption  of  the  act  of 
1890. 

727 


6 

The  articles  on  which  prices  were  obtained  were  divided  into 
the  following  groups: 

1.  Food. 

2.  Cloths  and  clothing. 

3.  Fuel  and  lighting. 

4.  House  furnishing  goods. 

5.  Drugs  and  chemicals. 

6.  Metals  and  and  implements. 

7.  Lumber  and  building  materials. 

The  percentage  of  decline  in  the  various  groups  embraced  in 
the  schedule  is  shown  by  the  following  table,  prices  for  June, 
July,  and  August,  1889,  being  taken  as  a  basis  for  comparison 
and  represented  by  the  number  100.  changes  being  shown  by  per- 
centages of  that  number: 

Group. 

Food 100.  53 

Cloths  and  clothing 99.65 

Fuel  and  lighting 98.69 

Metals  and  implements 97.49 

Lumber  and  building  materials 98.28 

Drugs  and  chemicals 95.96 

House-furnishing  goods 99.83 

Miscellaneous...  ..100.52 


Average 99.36 

The  Finance  Committee  also  investigated  for  the  same  period 
the  course  of  wholesale  prices  at  the  great  distributing  centers. 
While  this  investigation  disclosed  greater  fluctuations  in  price 
of  the  articles  selected,  the  general  result  was  the  same,  the  fall 
in  wholesale  prices  running  substantially  parallel  with  that  of 
retail  prices. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  greater  percentages  of  decline  are 
in  the  groups  of  manufactured  articles,  where  it  was  claimed  the 
greatest  advance  had  taken  place. 

In  addition  to  the  inquiry  stated  above,  the  committee  caused 
retail  prices  of  the  different  articles  included  in  these  lists  to  be 
taken  on  May  1, 1892,  at  three  of  the  points  at  which  the  original 
inquiry  was  made,  namely,  Fall  River,  Mass.,  Chicago,  111.,  and 
Dubuque,  Iowa.  The  result  of  this  latter  inquiry  shows  that  a 
still  further  decline  in  prices  and  in  the  cost  of  living  had  taken 
place  between  September  1,  1891,  and  May  1, 1892,  clearly  estab- 
lishing a  continuance  of  the  tendency  to  lower  prices  and  lower 
cost  of  living. 

737 


It  is  shown  as  a  net  result  of  the  investigation  that  prices  and 
the  cost  of  living,  based  on  the  expenditures  of  a  family  in  or- 
dinary circumstances,  had  declined  3.4  per  cent  in  May,  1892, 
as  compared  with  the  period  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  tariff 
act  of  1890. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  results  of  this  thoroughly  exhaust- 
ive inquiry  could  be  a  surprise  to  anyone,  unless  he  should  be  a 
professional  tariff  reformer.  It  has,  I  believe,  been  for  many 
months  apparent  to  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  that  none  of  the  Democratic  predictions  in  regard  to 
higher  prices  and  greater  cost  of  living,  as  the  result  of  the 
tariff  legislation  of  1890,  had  been  fulfilled. 

There  can  be  no  longer  any  question  as  to  the  course  of  prices 
for  the  period  covered  by  the  committee's  investigation.  Even 
the  Democratic  platform,  which  undertakes  to  enumerate  the 
evil  effects  of  the  act  of  1890,  abandons  the  claim  that  its  adop- 
tion resulted  in  increased  prices,  and  I  am  greatly  surprised  to 
find  that  the  cry  is  now  being  revived  for  the  campaign  of  1892. 
I  do  not  believe  it  is  possible ,  however,  for  the  same  men  to  deceive 
the  American  people  twice  with  the  same  misstate  ments  in  re- 
gard to  the  same  subject,  espscially  when  the  second  attempt  is 
made  after  the  facts  have  been  ascertained  and  are  well  known 
to  the  people  of  the  country.  The  allegations  made  in  regard 
to  prices  in  October,  1890,  were  then  made  with  such  vehemence 
and  pertinacity  that  many  honest  men  were  deluded.  This  ex- 
perience can  not,  in  my  opinion,  be  repeated. 

It  is  true  that  the  percentages  of  decline  of  prices  and  cost  of 
living  and  the  advance  in  wages,  as  shown  by  the  report,  are  not 
large.  Movements  of  this  kind,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  are 
always  siow.  The  price  of  a  single  article  or  even  a  group  of 
articless  may  change  greatly,  or  the  wages  in  a  single  occupa- 
tion or  group  of  occupations  may  advance  or  decline  rapidly,  and 
still  the  average  of  all  the  great  mass  of  prices  or  wages  not  be 
changed  perceptibly.  A  slight  change  in  the  total  average,  how- 
ever, makes  a  great  difference  in  the  aggregate  result.  The  de- 
cline in  the  cost  of  living  from  June,  1889,  to  May,  1892,  as  shown 
by  the  report  of  the  Finance  Committee,  was  3.4  per  cent.  The 
advance  in  wages.,  as  shown  by  the  same  report,  was  .75  of  1  per 

727 


8 

cent.  This  makes  an  average  advance  in  the  purchasing  power 
of  wages  of  4.15  per  cent.  Assuming  $600  as  the  average  income 
of  the  families  of  the  country,  this  would  be  equivalent  to,  say,  $25 
per  family,  or  an  aggregate  saving  for  13,000,000  families  of  $325,- 
000,000  for  each  year. 

The  addition  of  this  vast  sum  annually  to  the  national  earn- 
ings and  wealth  is  an  achievement  which  speaks  with  a  more 
eloquent  voice  than  I  can  command  in  behalf  of  a  policy  under 
which  such  results  are  possible. 

It  is  very  significant  that  while  the  cost  of  living  in  the  United 
States  declined  for  the  period  covered  by  the  investigation  of 
the  Finance  Committee,  the  cost  of  living  in  England  increased 
1.9  per  cent.  If  the  conditions  had  been  reversed,  our  Demo- 
cratic friends  would  have  insisted  that  this  was  the  direct  and 
logical  result  of  rival  revenue  systems.  I  am  curious  to  see 
what  explanation  they  will  now  make.  The  result  is  unques- 
tionably a  very  surprising  one  to  them,  and  one  which  they  will 
have  difficulty  in  explaining  away.  While  the  attempt  to  com- 
pare average  retail  prices  in  England  and  the  United  States  is 
not  satisfactory,  I  am  convinced  that  for  a  family  buying  the 
same  quantity  and  quality  of  articles  at  retail  in  the  two  coun- 
tries, that  the  cost  of  living  would  not  be  higher  in  America. 
These  relative  conditions,  however,  do  not  exist,  as  the  scale  of 
living  for  the  masses  of  people  in  the  respective  countries  is 
vastly  different. 

At  no  time  in  our  history  have  the  earnings  of  the  American 
people  been  as  great,  measured  by  their  power  to  purchase  the 
comforts  and  necessaries  of  life,  as  they  are  to-day.  Measured 
by  the  same  standard  they  are  vastly  greater  than  those  of  any 
other  people  in  the  world. 

The  Senator  from  Missouri  based  his  broad  statement,  so  strik- 
ingly at  variance  with  understood  facts,  that  the  recent  tariff  act 
has  increased  the  prices  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  on  two  state- 
ments which  he  submitted,  with  every  appearance  of  confidence, 
and  to  which  he  was  kind  enough  to  invite  my  special  attention. 
The  first  of  these  was  a  table  prepared  by  Mr.  Daniel  McKeever, 
of  the  importing  house  of  H.  Herman Sternbach  &Co.,  of  New 
York,  purporting  to  show  the  relative  cost  to  import  twenty-one 

727 


articles  before  and  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1890.  As  the 
articles  named  in  Mr.  McKeever's  list  were  selected  by  that  gen- 
tleman from  the  very  large  number  of  imported  articles  that  go 
into  consumption,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  a  general  advance 
in  prices,  his  compilation  is  deserving  of  notice. 

It  is  evident  from  the  language  used  by  the  Senator  from  Mis- 
souri in  reference  to  this  table  that  he  was  willing  to  rest  his 
case  upon  the  accuracy  of  its  representations.  It  will  be  noticed, 
however,  that  Mr.  McKeever  does  not  claim  that  the  cost  of  the 
articles  named  had  been  increased  to  consumers.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  the  Senator  from  Missouri  intended  to  create  the 
impression,  both  by  his  language  and  his  triumphant  manner, 
that  the  paper  would  in  some  manner  prove  beyond  all  question 
that  a  general  advance  in  the  price  of  the  necessaries  of  life  had 
taken  place. 

Under  these  circumstances  I  feel  justified  in  making  an  ex- 
amination of  the  document,  which  otherwise  I  should  pass  by 
unnoticed,  as  entirely  unimportant  and  irrelevant  to  the  ques- 
tion at  issue  as  to  the  effect  of  the  tariff  act  of  1890.  The  table 
purports  to  show  the  relative  foreign  cost  in  New  York,  duty 
paid,  of  the  articles  named  therein,  of  which  samples  were  ex- 
hibited, before  and  after  October,  1890,  the  relative  rates  of 
duty  assessed  by  existing  law  and  the  equivalent  ad  valorem  rate; 
and  the  duties  in  force  prior  to  the  date  the  act  of  1890  went  into 
effect. 

I  will  first  ask  your  attention  to  the  statement  of  relative  rates 
of  duties.  I  assume  that  it  was  Mr.  McKeever's  intention,  as  it 
certainly  was  that  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  to  create  the  in- 
ference that  the  increase  of  rates  shown  in  the  table  furnishes  a 
fair  indication  of  the  character  of  the  general  changes  in  rates 
effected  by  the  act  of  1890.  I  believe  I  shall  be  able  to  show  that 
the  statement  has  no  value  for  this  purpose.  Such  of  its  com- 
parisons as  are  not  grossly  inaccurate  are  wholly  misleading. 
For  instance,  Mr.  McKeever  states  that  the  rates  upon  astra- 
chans,  samples  18,  19,  20,  and  21,  prior  to  the  act  of  1890  varied 
from  12  to  24  cents  per  pound  and  35  per  cent  ad  valorem,  and 
that  the  duties  at  the  present  time  are  49i  cents  per  pound  and  60 


10 

per  cent  ad  valorem,  equivalent  to  an  ad  valorem  rate  of  from 
140  to  186  per  cent. 

The  goods  in  question,  unless  made  up  into  garments  as  is  cer- 
tainly not  contemplated  by  the  description,  would  be  dutiable 
under  paragraph  392  of  the  act  of  1890,  at  44  cents  a  pound  and 
50  per  cent  ad  valorem,  instead  of  at  49£  cents  per  pound  and  60 
per  cent  ad  valorem. 

If  classified  as  manufactures  of  worsted,  they  would  have  paid 
a  duty  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1890  of  35  cents  per 
pound  and  35  per  cent  ad  valorem,  instead  of  from  12  to  24  cents 
per  pound,  as  stated  by  Mr.  McKeever. 

It  is  singular  that  Mr.  McKeever  should  have  taken  as  a  basis 
for  his  comparison  of  the  rates  imposed  on  astrachans,  in  one  case 
the  lowest  rate  levied  by  the  wool  schedule  of  the  act  of  1883,  that 
upon  flannels  and  blankets,  and  in  the  other  case  the  highest 
rate  impos3d  upon  manufactures  of  wool  by  the  act  of  1890.  that 
upon  ready-made,  clothing,  when  neither  of  the  rates  was  ap- 
plicable to  th3  goods  in  question. 

Mr.  McKeever  is  a  man  of  keen  intelligence,  wonderfully  fa- 
miliar with  tariff  rates  and  the  effect  of  tariff  changes  upon 
his  business  as  an  importer,  and  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how 
he  couii  have  subscribed  to  a  statsment  so  strangely  inaccurate. 

Samples  Nos.  10  to  17,  inclusive,  are  at  present  dutiable,  under 
paragraph  394,  as  women's  and  children's  dress  goods,  coat 
linings,  etc.  By  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1890  the  dividing 
line  of  value  in  this  class  of  goods,  upon  which  higher  duties 
were  levied,  was  reduced  from  20  to  15  cents  per  yard.  This 
change  was  made  to  meet  the  great  decline  that  had  taken  place 
in  the  price  of  goods  of  this  character  between  1883  and  1890.  It 
will  be  noticed  that  Mr.  McKeever  has  taken  in  all  instances  for 
his  comparison  of  rates  goods  that  are  included  within  this 
changed  limit.  In  no  other  manner  could  such  disparity  in  rates 
be  shown. 

There  is  another  feature  of  this  statement  in  regard  to  the 
change  in  the  rates  on  dress  goods  which  requires  attention. 
By  a  construction  of  the  act  of  1883,  which  was  clearly  erroneous, 
certain  goods  weighing  over  4  ounces  per  square  yard  were  ad- 
mitted upon  the  payment  of  the  square-yard  duty,  instead  of  the 

727 


11 

pound-duty,  which  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  act  of  1883  to  impose. 
This  manifest  defect  in  the  law  was  remedied  by  the  provisions  of 
the  act  of  1890.  and  the  effect  of  this  remedial  legislation  is  rep- 
resented in  the  table  as  an  increase  in  rates.  It  is  true  the  duties 
were  advanced,  as  stated  in  the  table,  on  samples  Nos.  1  to  9,  in- 
clusive. The  purpose  of  these  advanced  rates  was  clearly  stated 
at  the  time  the  bill  was  passed.  Neither  cotton  velvets,  cordu- 
roys, nor  silk-striped  sleeve  linings  had  been  made  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  in  the  United  States  prior  to  the  passage  of  the 
act,  and  it  was  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  bill  to  give  to 
these  articles  adequate  protection,  in  order  that  the  American 
producer  could  have  an  equal  chance  to  secure  the  American 
market.  Their  success  in  this  direction  has  been  especially 
gratifying. 

This  disposes,  I  believe,  of  the  question  of  relative  rates,  and 
I  will  now  take  up  the  question,  Does  the  table  show  an  increase 
in  prices  or  cost  of  necessaries  of  life,  as  claimed  by  the  Senator 
from  Missouri? 

The  articles  named  are  not  in  any  sense  necessaries  of  life,  and 
it  will  be  extremely  difficult  for  the  Senator  from  Missouri  to 
make  the  plain  people  of  the  country  believe  that  silk-striped 
sleeve  linings,  astrachans,  cotton  velvets,  and  corduroys  belong 
to  that  class.  They  certainly  do  not,  and  none  of  the  articles 
in  McKeever's  list,  with  the  possible  exception  of  coat  linings, 
gfo  into  use  to  any  considerable  extent  in  the  households  of  the 
poor. 

But  whatever  their  character,  the  most  important  fact  to  be 
inquired  into  in  connection  with  this  table,  and  the  purposes  for 
which  it  is  exhibited,  is  whether  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1890 
had  the  effect  to  advance  the  cost  to  consumers  of  these  articles 
or  others  similar  in  character  or  used  for  similar  purposes. 

As  I  have  already  said,  Mr.  McKeever's  statement  contains  no 
evidence  that  the  prices  of  the  articles  named  have  advanced, 
but  that  the  cost  to  import  them  is  slightly  greater  since  the 
passage  of  the  act  of  1890.  The  fact  is  disclosed,  however,  that 
the  increased  cost  as  stated  does  not  in  any  case  equal  the  addi- 
tional duty.  The  consumers  of  the  country,  however,  for  whom 
the  distinguished  Senator  from  Missouri  assumes  sometimes  to 

727 


12 


speak,  are  not  especially  interested  in  the  slight  increase  of  cost 
to  import  the  goods  in  question,  or  in  the  percentage  of  profit 
which  Mr.  McKeever  and  his  associates  realize  from  their  im: 
portations.  The  question  to  be  determined  in  their  behalf  is 
whether  the  prices  that  they  pay  for  these  or  similar  goods  have 
been  advanced. 

I  shall  endeavor  to  satisfy  Senators  that  every  purchaser  of 
these  goods  or  similar  goods  for  consumption,  whether  of  domes- 
tic or  foreign  manufacture,  can  buy  them  to-day  at  lower  prices 
than  those  current  prior  to  1890. 

While  the  articles  named  by  Mr.  McKeever  as  "  women's  and 
children's  dress  goods  "  are  exceptional  in  their  character  and 
comparatively  unimportant,  it  is  true  that  the  general  class  of 
goods  included  in  the  designation  is  very  important,  and  we  may 
well  address  ourselves  to  an  investigation  of  the  fact  whether 
the  articles  included  in  this  class,  in  common  use.  have  increased 
in  price.  I  submit  herewith  a  statement  showing  the  prices  at 
which  goods  of  domestic  manufacture,  the  general  class  of  dress 
goods  which  enter  most  largely  into  consumption,  sold  in  the 
month  of  July  in  the  years  1890,  1891,  and  1892: 

Prices  of  coat  linings  and  woman's  and  children's  dress  goods. 


Width. 

July, 
1890. 

July, 
1891. 

July, 
1892. 

COAT  LININGS  AND  ITALIAN  CLOTH. 

Fair  Alpaca  Company.  Holyoke.  Mass.  : 
Double-warp  coat  linings      ... 

Inches. 
32 

Cents. 
28 

Cents. 
28 

Cents. 
27} 

Single-warp  coat  linings  ...  ..... 

32 

27 

27 

DRESS  GOODS. 

Manchester  Mills,  Manchester,  N.  H.  : 
"813"  cashmere  ..  . 

35 

19 

18) 

18 

Arlington  Mills.  Lawrence,  Mass.  : 
Cotton  warp  cashmere,  No.  100....  

34  to  35 

18i 

181 

18 

Cotton  warp  cashmere.  No.  200........ 

35  to  36 

22 

22 

211 

Atlantic  Mills,  Providence,  R.  I.  : 
Atlantic's  Fs  

35 

19 

18 

18 

Atlantic's  FFs 

35 

25 

23} 

23} 

Hamilton  Woolen  Company,  Southbridge, 
Mass.  : 
Cashmere  ....  ...  

27 

10 

10 

9} 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Farr  Alpaca  Company,  of  Holyoke, 
Mass.,  quote  double  and  single  warp  coat  linings  at  a  lower  rate 
in  July,  1892,  than  in  either  of  the  previous  years.  The  other 
quotations  submitted  by  me  are  the  prices  at  which  the  goods 


13 

manufactured  by  the  five  leading  American  producers  of  women's 
and  children's  dress  goods  sold  their  product  at  the  respective 
dates  named.  These  quotations  show  a  decline  in  price  in  every 
case. 

These  quotations  refer  only  to  domestic  goods;  but  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  goods  of  this  class  consumed  in  the  United 
States  is  produced  by  the  domestic  manufacturers,  who  have 
practically  the  control  of  the  American  market. 

It  can,  however,  be  conclusively  established  that  the  cost  to 
import  the  great  mass  of  women's  and  children's  dress  goods  is 
less  to-day  than  it  was  before  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1890,  and 
it  is  certainly  true  that  both  foreign  and  domestic  goods  of  this 
character  are  sold  at  retail  at  lower  prices  now  than  they  were 
prior  to  October,  1890.  I  have  been  furnished  by  Messrs.  William 
H.  Burgess  &  Co.,  of  Paris  and  New  York,  with  a  statement 
showing  the  foreign  cost  and  the  cost  to  lay  down  in  New  York, 
duty  paid,  of  all-wool  cashmeres,  standard  quality,  12  to  13 
twill.  Other  descriptions  of  all-wool  dress  goods  vary  in  price 
with  these  at  a  fixed  ratio.  This  statement  shows  that  the  cost 
to  import  the  goods  in  question,  duty  and  other  charges  paid,  in 
1887,  was  44.2  cents;  in  1888,  42.8  cents;  in  1889,  41.4  cents,  and 
in  1892,  40  cents  per  yard.  This  would  seem  to  clearly  establish 
the  fact  that  for  the  great  mass  of  women's  and  children's  dress 
goods  used  in  the  United  States  the  cost  laid  down  in  New  York 
to  the  importer  is  less  prior  to-day  to  than  was  it  tariff  changes. 

In  regard  to  the  price  of  astrachans  there  is  very  little  to  be 
said.  The  demand  for  this  fabric  is  extremely  limited,  and  fluc- 
tuations in  the  price  are  of  very  little  importance  to  the  people 
of  the  country.  I  have,  however,  been  furnished  with  samples 
and  a  price  list  of  astrachans  of  domestic  manufacture  by  the 
Goodall  Worsted  Company,  of  Sanford,  Me.  This  list  shows 
that  the  company  referred  to  sells  54-inch  astrachans,  50  ounces 
in  weight,  at  $3.63  per  yard  net  to  their  customers,  or  at  97 
cents  per  yard  less  than  the  cost  of  importing  similar  goods,  as 
reported  by  Mr.  McKeever. 

I  submit  a  table  showing  the  comparative  prices  at  which  silk 
sleeve  linings  were  sold  for  consumption  prior  to  October,  1899, 
and  in  1892: 

727 


14 


Prices  of  silk  striped  sleeve  linings. 


Quality. 

Width. 

Price  in 

1889. 

Price  in 
1890  after 
bill  was 
passed. 

Price  in 

1892. 

Difference 
in  price, 
lower. 

No.  1... 

Inches. 
40 

Cents. 
87.5 

Cents. 
36 

Cents. 
34.7 

Vents. 
2.8 

No.  2... 

40 

56 

40.5 

38.30 

17.7 

No.  3... 

40 

60 

49.5 

47.25 

12.75 

No.  4... 

40 

62.5 

54 

51.8 

10.7 

No.  5  

40 

73 

60 

58.5 

14.5 

This  table  shows  a  decline  in  prices  in  all  cases  varying  from 
2.8  cents  per  yard  to  17.7  cents  per  yard.  I  will  also  have  printed 
in  the  RECORD  a  letter  from  the  Royal  Weaving  Company,  of 
Pawtucket,  R.  I.,  explaining  this  statement. 

T  have  in  my  possession  samples  of  all  the  goods  on  which 
prices  are  quoted  in  the  various  tables  I  have  submitted. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  price  of  most  descriptions  of 
cotton  velvet  and  corduroys  included  in  Mr.  McKeever's  table 
are  somewhat  higher  to-day  than  they  were  in  1889  and  1890,  just 
prior  to  the  passage  of  the  McKinley  act.  An  effort  was  made 
in  the  years  1887, 1888,  and  1889  to  establish  the  industry  of  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  velvets  in  this  country;  but  in  1889  and 
1890  the  prices  were  reduced  so  low  by  the  foreign  manufac- 
turers as  to  drive  most  of  the  American  producers  out  of  the  mar- 
ket; and  while  it  is  true  that  there  has  been  a  reaction  in  prices,  it 
is  also  true  that  prices  in  1892  on  all  classes  of  goods  are  less  than 
they  were  in  1885.  The  rapid  decline  which  took  place  in  1889 
and  1890  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  goods  which  sold  in  1885  for 
29i  cents,  sold  in  1889  for  17 1  cents,  and  the  price  of  similar  goods 
in  1892  was  23i  cents.  Another  quality  which  sold  in  1885  for  36 
cents,  sold  in  1890  at  27  cents,  and  the  present  price  is  28  cents. 
The  slight  increase  which  has  taken  place  since  189  0  has  by  no 
means  restored  prices  to  the  level  of  the  years  1885-1887. 

In  what  I  have  said  in  regard  to  the  increased  cost  of  cotton 
velvets  and  corduroys  this  year  as  compared  with  1890, 1  have 
only  had  reference  to  the  prices  at  which  the  goods  were  sold 
either  by  importers  or  manufacturers.  The  retail  prices  of  these 
goods  to  consumers  are  in  most  cases  lower  now  than  prior  to 
the  passage  of  the  act  of  1890. 

727 


15 

The  great  disparity  between  the  retail  price  and  wholesale 
price  of  cotton  velvets  was  shown  by  me  in  the  course  of  the 
discussion  of  the  tariff  bill  of  1890.  It  was  then  claimed  by  the 
importers  that  certain  cotton  velvets  were  sold  abroad  at  12 
cents  a  yard.  The  lowest  price  at  which  any  cotton  velvet  could 
then  be  purchased  at  any  dry-goods  store  in  Washington  at  re- 
tail was  60  cents  per  yard.  It  is  very  evident  that  the  slight 
reduction  in  the  importers'  profits  which  has  been  recently  ef- 
fected would  have  no  perceptible  influence  upon  the  re  tail  price. 

I  think  I  have  effectually  disposed  of  Mr.  McKeevers  state- 
ments as  the  basis  of  a  claim  that  prices  have  been  advanced  by 
the  tariff  legislation  of  the  Fifty-first  Congress. 

The  table  which  I  have  had  under  examination  contained  the 
only  evidence  furnished  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri  in  support 
of  his  claim ,  except  a  statement  m  ade  in  regard  to  the  pric3  of  hard- 
ware. Giving  a  New  York  evening  paper  as  authority,  he  stated 
that  the  price  of  hardware  had  ad  vanced  from  30  to  57!  per  cent.  It 
is  apparent,  however,  that  instead  of  hardware  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  intended  to  say  cutlery,  as  certainly  the  pricss  of  gen- 
eral hardware,  are  very  much  lower  to-day  than  prior  to  1890. 
Bearing  upon  the  question  as  to  whether  an  increase  has  taken 
place  in  the  price  of  table  cutlery,  I  will  state,  upon  the  author- 
ity of  Charles  S.  Landers,  of  Landers,  Prary  &  Clarke,  of  New 
Britain,  Conn.,  large  table-cutlery  manufacturers,  that  the  prices 
on  the  entire  line  of  goods  manufactured  by  them  are  at  least  7! 
per  cent  lower  now  than  they  were  in  October,  1890,  and  that  no 
advance  has  taken  place  since  that  time.  I  will  print  Mr.  Lan- 
der's letter  in  the  RECORD. 

In  regard  to  the  price  of  pocket  cutlery,  I  have  received  a  let- 
ter from  Mr.  W.  F.  Rockwell,  of  Miller  Brothers'  Cutlery  Com- 
pany, which  contains  the  following  statement: 

As  to  prices  on  American  pocket  cutlery.  Many  patterns  have  not  been 
advanced  at  all.  Several  styles  that  have  been  sold  below  actual  cost  have 
teeen  advanced  so  they  now  pay  a  small  profit. 

The  average  advances  do  not  exceed  10  per  cent  to  the  jobbing  trade.  The 
margin  of  profit  between  the  jobber  and  consumer  was  sufficient,  so  there 
was  no  reason  or  necessity  of  advancing  the  price  to  the  consumer,  and  it 
ias  not  been  done. 

The  wages  of  pocket-cutlery  workers  have  been  advanced  from  5  per  cent 
to  25  per  cent  in  the  different  operations.  One  of  the  oldest  foremen  in  the 
country  estimates  that  the  advances  which  have  been  made  In  wages,  to- 
727 


16 

getter  with  the  more  steady  work  given  the  men,  will  furnish  them  at  least 
an  average  of  20  per  cent  more  annual  income. 

Many  of  the  factories  have  more  than  doubled  their  capacity  in  buildings 
and  machinery,  and  all  of  them  show  increased  production.  The  gain  in 
output,  of  course,  reduces  incidental  expenses. 

The  fact  that  the  value  of  the  pocket  cutlery  imported  last  year,  with  the 
duty  added,  so  closely  approximates  the  amount  made  here,  shows  the  con- 
ditions of  competition  pretty  accurately  adjusted. 

I  have  taken  pains  to  make  a  very  full  and  complete  analysis, 
which  I  fear  the  Senate  has  found  technical  and  tedious  in  its 
character,  of  the  statements  made  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  completely  they  fail  in  every 
respect  to  establish  the  claim  that  articles  in  general  use  have 
been  advanced  in  price  as  a  result  of  the  tariff  legislation  of  two 
years  ago. 

After  having  attempted  to  show  that  the  rates  imposed  by  the 
acts  of  1890 had  increased  the  cost  of  necessaries  of  life,  the  Sen- 
ator from  Missouri  attempts  to  establish  the  fact  that  these  rates 
were  not  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  labor  employed  in 
the  different  industries  in  this  country.  He  even  goes  so  far  as 
to  say  that  labor  at  the  present  time  is  cheaper  in  the  United 
States  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  To  use  his  own  lan- 
guage: 

It  is  well  known  to  those  who  make  these  statements  that  the  American 
operatives,  from  their  superior  energy  and  intelligence,  can  successfully  com- 
pete with  any  labor  in  the  world,  and  that  American  labor  is  the  cheapest  in 
the  world,  because  it  produces  a  better  article. 

To  confirm  this  assertion  the  Senator  quotes  from  statements 
made  by  Mr.  J.  Shosnhof,  which  purp3rt  to  show  that  the  cost  of 
labor  in  the  production  of  leading  articles  manfactured  in  the 
United  States  is  but  little  if  any  more  in  any  case,  and  in  many 
cases  less  than  in  competing  countries  in  Europe.  Statements 
of  this  nature  are  frequently  made  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
that  tariff  rates  are  excessive.  Their  inaccuracy  has  been  fre- 
quently exposed.  All  must  admit  that  there  are  no  statistics 
in  existence  that  can  be  possibly  made  to  show  that  the  earn- 
ings of  labor  in  any  occupation  or  profession  are  not  much 
greater  in  the  United  States  than  in  any  of  the  countries  with 
whom  we  compete  in  the  production  of  manufactured  articles. 

The  recent  investigation  of  the  Finance  Committee  showed 
that  in  certain  general  occupations  wages  in  the  United  States 
were  77  per  cent  higher  than  in  England.  I  have  submitted  tables 

727 


17 

showing  the  relative  wages  in  cotton  and  worsted  mills  in  the 
two  countries,  with  American  wages  in  many  cases  more  than  100 
per  cent  higher.  The  tables  in  reference  towages  in  the  produc- 
tion of  tin  plate,  which  I  submit,  show  a  difference  of  152  per  cont 
in  favor  of  the  United  States  as  compared  with  Wales.  Similar 
statistics  are  abundant.  Wages  in  the  United  States  show  a 
still  greater  excess  when  compared  with  those  of  the  countries 
of  Continental  Europe.  This  difference  is  undoubtedly  greater 
in  certain  occupations  and  localities  than  in  others. 

There  is  no  evidence,  moreover,  to  show  that  Mr.  Shoenhof 's 
figures  relate  to  the  labor  cost  of  production  of  the  same  descrip- 
tions of  goods  in  the  United  States  and  in  England.  For  in- 
stance, in  the  statement  in  regard  to  weaving  and  finishing  6-4 
worsted  cloths,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  the  character  of  the 
goods  except  the  width. 

These  and  similar  statements  of  Mr.  Shoenhof 's  have  been  fre- 
quently published,  and  practical  manufacturers,  familiar  with 
the  conditions  on  both  sides  of  the  ocaan,  have  repeatedly  de- 
monstrated in  this  Chambar  and  elsewhere  that  they  are  not 
only  worthless,  but  sometimes  grotesque  in  their  excess  of  mis- 
information. 

Tariff  reformers,  as  a  rule,  admit  that  American  earnings 
are  greater  than  any  others,  but  assume  that  the  higher  rates 
of  wages  here  insure  lower  cost  of  production  on  account  of  the 
greater  skill  and  efficiency  of  American  workmen.  This,  they 
assert,  is  the  necessary  result  of  the  general  economic  law  that 
high  wages  produce  low  cost  of  production. 

There  are  many  instances  in  which  the  producers  of  the  United 
States,  through  the  superior  energy,  skill,  and  genius  of  our 
mechanicsand  inventors,  or  by  the  greater  or  more  effective  use 
of  machinery,  have  reduced  the  cost  of  production  to  a  point 
lower  than  that  in  competing  countries.  In  thesa  cases  import 
duties  ara  of  course  inoperative.  The  number  of  cases  in  which 
this  is  true  is  constantly  increasing.  If  the  act  of  1890  is  allowed 
to  remain  upon  the  statute  books  until  the  full  benefit  of  its  pro- 
visions can  ba  realized  the  list  of  articles  in  which  we  can  suc- 
cessfully compete  is  certain  to  be  greatly  enlarged. 

Notwithstanding   the  superior  activity  and   intelligence  of 

727 2 


18 

American  workmen  and  all  the  other  industrial  advantages 
which  we  have,  it  is  undoubtedly  as  true  to-day  as  it  was  in  1888 
that  the  cost  to  the  American  manufacturer  of  accomplishing 
certain  equivalent  results,  that  is  of  producing  say  a  yard  of  cot- 
ton or  woolen  cloth,  or  a  ton  of  iron  or  steal  of  the  same  or  sim- 
ilar quality,  is  in  most  instances  much  greater  than  to  his  foreign 
competitor,  owing  to  the  much  greater  cost  here  of  labor  and 
services  in  production,  and  in  all  collateral  employments.  The 
actual  relative  conditions  which  govern  production  are  with  the 
exceptions  I  have  noted,  these:  The  American  manufacturer  and 
his  foreign  competitor  both  use  the  same  machinery,  which  runs 
at  the  same  speed,  an  equal  number  of  hours,  turning  out  the 
same  quantity  and  kind  of  goods.  Under  these  circumstances  it 
is  evident  that  the  higher  wages  paid  in  tha  United  States  re- 
sult in  a  greater  cost  of  production,  and  it  is  to  maintain  this 
higher  level  of  wages  and  at  the  same  time  to  equalize  condi- 
tions of  production  tha"  protective  duties  are  levied. 

It  is  of  course  impossible  to  determine  the  exact  rate  of  duty 
to  be  levied  upon  any  article  by  a  comparison  of  the  single  ele- 
ment of  wages,  or  even  the  relative  earnings  of  labor  in  differ- 
ent countries.  This  proposition  seems  too  plain  to  need  discus- 
sion. Itis  equally  impossible  to  adjust  tariff  rates  levied  to  equal- 
ize conditions,  on  the  basis  of  the  mathematical  relation  which  the 
labor  cost  at  one  stage  bears  to  the  finished  product,  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  proportion  which  the  cost  of  weaving  bears  to  the 
completed  fabric. 

The  rule  that  should  apply  in  fixing  the  rates  of  protective 
duties  is  that  they  should  in  all  cases  equal  the  difference  be- 
tween the  cost  of  production  and  distribution,  under  normal  con- 
ditions, of  the  article  in  question  in  our  own  and  in  that  compet- 
ing country  where  the  cost  of  production  is  lowest.  This  was  the 
rule  which  was  followed  in  the  preparation  of  the  act  of  1890,  and 
of  the  Senate  tariff  bill  of  1888,  which  formed  the  basis  of  this 
measure. 

Protective  duties  levied  in  this  manner  have  but  one  purpose 
and  can  have  but  one  effect,  that  is,  to  protect  American  labor 
and  to  maintain  the  existing  high  level  of  wages  and  earnings  of 
American  workmen.  When  such  duties  are  removed  or  reduced 

727 


19 

below  the  protective  point  labor  receives  the  full  force  of  the 
blow. 

While  it  is  not  claimed  that  protective  tariffs  guarantee  any 
particular  scale  of  wages  in  any  particular  industry  and  while 
tariff  rates  can  not  be  based  directly  on  the  difference  in  ascer- 
tained wages,  or  even  in  the  relative  earnings  of  people  in  com- 
peting countries,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that,  by  the  rule  I  have  laid 
down,  this  difference  becomes  really  the  basis  upon  which  all 
duties  are  levied,  as  tariff  rates  are  fixed  by  the  difference  in  the 
cost  of  production  between  competing  countries,  and  the  differ- 
ence in  the  cost  of  production  in  the  final  analysis,  consists  of  a 
difference  in  wages  or  earnings. 

This  rule  for  fixing  rates  should  only  apply,  however,  to  arti- 
cles in  the  production  of  which  the  United  States  has  equal 
natural  advantages  with  other  countries.  As  a  protectionist  I 
believe  that  the  United  States  can  not  afford,  having  in  view  the 
most  rapid  development  of  her  great  resources,  to  levy  duties 
upon  articles  in  the  production  of  which  other  countries  have 
permanent  natural  advantages.  Such  articles  should  be  admit- 
ted free.  In  the  case  of  articles  fairly  entitled  to  protection,  the 
rule  that  I  have  laid  down,  I  believe,  is  the  only  one  that  should 
be  followed. 

Tariff  rates  are  frequently  criticised  because  certain  statisti- 
cal reports  show  that  the  so-called  percentage  of  labor  cost  of 
production  in  a  particular  article  is  less  than  the  rate  of  duty  im- 
posed upon  that  article,  and  it  is  assumed  therefore  that  the  rates 
are  unnecessarily  high.  For  instance,  these  reports  purport  to 
show  that  the  percentage  of  labor  cost  in  producing  woolen  goods 
is  from  22  to  25  per  cent  of  the  total  cost  of  the  product,  and  there- 
fore it  is  argued  that  the  rate  of  duty  should  not  exceed  that 
rate.  Statistics  of  this  nature,  taking  into  consideration  only 
the  labor  employed  in  a  single  stage  in  the  long  process  of  manu- 
facture as  a  basis  for  the  ratio,  may  have  some  value  statistically, 
but  they  have  no  value  whatever  in  determining  the  rate  of 
duties  which  should  be  imposed  by  a  protective  tariff.  For  in- 
stance, knowledge  of  the  exact  percentage  of  cost  in  each  case 
which  the  cost  of  riveting  a  blade  into  a  pocket  knife  bears  to 
the  total  cost  of  the  knife  in  Meriden,  in  Sheffield,  or  in  Sol- 

727 


20 

ingen,  would  be  of  no  special  value  to  a  legislator.  Protective 
duties  are  levied  to  equalize  conditions,  ana  it  is  the  total  rela- 
tive cost  of  producing  the  completed  knife  at  these  competing 
points  and  not  the  relation  which  the  cost  of  riveting  or  polish- 
ing the  blade  has  to  this  that  should  determine  equalizing  rates. 

All  refinements  of  calculation  in  regard  to  percentages  of  labor 
cost  are  therefore  entirely  useless  in  a  discussion  of  the  tariff 
rates.  If  it  costs  $1  to  produce  a  yard  of  woolen  cloth  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  60  cents  in  France,  the  natural  advantages  of  the 
United  States  being  equal  to  France  in  the  production  of  woolen 
cloth,  it  would  be  necessary  in  order  to  equalize  conditions  to 
levy  a  duty  of  40  cents  a  yard.  It  is  comparatively  easy  for  a 
legislator  to  ascertain  differences  in  the  total  cost  of  production, 
but  quite  impossible  for  him  to  determine  the  mathematical  re- 
lation of  partial  costs  at  different  stages. 

From  this  point  of  view  much  valuable  time  has  also  been  wasted 
in  the  collection  and  discussion  of  statistics  in  regard  to  so-called 
total  labor  cost  of  production.  Most  of  these  statistics  leave  out|of 
the  computation  sums  paid  for  clerical  service,  for  superintend- 
ence, for  taxes  and  insurance,  for  labor  in  repairs  and  materials, 
and  all  the  great  mass  of  incidental  expenses  which  go  to  make 
up  the  cost  of  doing  business,  and  the  ultimate  cost  of  produc- 
tion. These  all  represent  labor  or  services.  The  sums  collected 
for  taxes,  for  instance,  go  to  pay  school-teachers,  fire  men,  police- 
men, tax  assessors,  collectors,  and  various  other  employes  in  the 
public  service.  All  the  essential  elements  in  the  cost  of  produc- 
tion can  be  reduced  to  an  expanditure  for  labor  or  services  in 
some  form,  and  labor  cost  of  production  and  total  cost  of  product 
are  equal  terms. 

Among  the  many  remarkable  statements  made  by  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  in  his  speech  of  June  28,  I  find  the  following: 

I  am  prepared  to  show  by  irrefutable  testimony  that  never  in  the  history 
of  this  country  has  there  been  such  disturbance  of  labor,  never  such  hostile 
and  inimical  relations  between  employer  and  employe^  never  such  prostra- 
tion of  agricultural  interests,  never  such  a  limiting  and  narrowing  of  for- 
eign markets,  never  such  disaster  brought  about  in  so  short  a  time  as  by 
this  infamous  legislation. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  this  sentence  contains  three  distinct 
charges  in  regard  to  the  operations  of  the  act  of  1890,  and  these 

727 


I  propose  to  take  up  seriatim.  The  first  of  these  is  that  there 
had  never  been  such  disturbance  in  labor,  never  such  hostile  re- 
lations between  employer  and  employe,  as  were  brought  about 
by  the  act  referred  to.  In  support  of  this  allegation  the  Senator 
submitted  and  had  printed  in  the  RECORD  a  long  list  of  alleged 
"  wage  reductions,  shut-downs,  lock-outs,  and  strikes  in  pro- 
tected manufactures  which  had  taken  place  sinbe  the  passage  of 
the  McKinley  bill  from  data  collected  by  Hon.  JOHN  DE  WITT 
WARNER  for  the  New  York  World."  This  list  covers  the  time 
between  December  4, 1890,  and  June  18, 1892,  a  period  of  eighteen 
months. 

The  statement  shows  that  during  this  period  seventy-seven 
strikes  occurred  in  the  United  States.  If  we  assume  that  these 
figures  are  accurate,  and  it  will  be  seen  from  an  examination  of 
the  other  papers  furnished  by  the  same  gentleman  that  he  has 
a  decided  tendency  to  overstate  in  his  statistics,  it  may  be  profit- 
able to  make  a  comparison  between  the  number  of  strikes  occur- 
ring as  alleged  since  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1890  and  in  the 
years  which  preceded  it. 

Having  this  comparison  in  mind,  I  requested  the  Commissioner 
of  Labor  to  furnish  me  with  statistics  of  strikes  in  this  country 
for  the  years  prior  to  1890,  and  if  possible  to  give  me  comparative 
statistics  of  strikes  which  have  taken  place  in  G  reat  Britain 
within  the  period  covered  by  his  American  statistics. 

In  answer  to  this  request  I  have  received  the  following  table, 
showing  the  number  of  strikes  and  the  number  of  employes  in- 
volved in  each  year,  from  1880  to  1890,  inclusive,  in  the  United 
States: 


Years. 

Number 
of 
strikes. 

Employe's 
striking 
and 
involved. 

1880 

610 

1881                         

471 

120,  521 

1882  

454 

154,  671 

1883                               '  

478 

149,763 

1884...      

443 

147.054 

1885 

645 

242,705 

1886...                                            

1,411 

499,  489 

1887                                                                                           

872 

345,073 

1888       ...                              

679 

211,016 

1889...                       

613 

177,298 

1890  

798 

201,682 

727 


22 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  number  of  strikes  in  this  country 
varied  from  443  in  1884  to  1,411  in  1886;  the  average  number  of 
each  year  for  the  whole  period  being  625.  The  number  reported 
in  1890  is  798,  being  more  than  ten  times  as  many  in  this  single 
year  as  reported  by  Mr.  WARNER  for  the  eighteen  months  cov- 
ered by  his  statistics. 

Available  statistics  show  that  in  Great  Britain,  the  paradise 
of  tariff  reformers,  3,164  strikes  occurred  in  1889.  The  British 
Board  of  Trade  officially  report  1,028  strikes  in  1890,  with  392,- 
981  persons  involved  in  738  of  these. 

It  will  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  the  relative  number  and  im- 
portance of  strikes  in  the  United  States  and  in  Great  Britain  for 
the  year  1890  that  the  number  was  much  greater  in  the  latter 
country,  and  that  the  number  of  persons  involved  was  more  than 
three  times  as  great  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  persons  en- 
gaged in  useful  occupations  in  the  respective  countries. 

In  the  recent  strike  in  the  Durham  (English)  district  100,000 
coal  miners  went  out  and  remained  idle  from  March  12  to  June 
1,  when  they  accepted  a  reduction  of  10  percent  in  wages.  This 
strike  involved  the  closing  down  of  one  hundred  blast  furnaces 
in  addition  to  the  suspension  of  mining  operations. 

The  statistics  submitted  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri  confirm 
in  a  striking  manner  the  judgment  of  every  intelligent  observer, 
that  there  has  been  a  remarkable  freedom  from  strikes  and  labor 
troubles  in  this  country  since  the  passage  of  the  tariff  act  of  1890. 
It  can  be  said  that  at  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  has 
labor  been  so  constantly  and  profitably  employed,  and  at  such 
satisfactory  wages  as  in  the  period  referred  to.  No  person  in 
the  United  States  with  the  capacity  and  willingness  to  work  is 
out  of  employment. 

It  is  true  that  a  reduction  of  wages  has  taken  place  in  a  limited 
number  of  establishments  producing  iron  and  steel;  but  the  fact 
should  not  be  overlooked  that  even  with  this  reduction,  the 
average  wages  are  still  much  higher  than  in  any  of  the  other 
great  industries.  The  earnings  in  some  departments  are  ex- 
ceptionally high;  for  instance,  the  average  net  earnings  of  bar 
rollers  in  all  the  Pittsburg  mills  is  $15.25  per  day,  and  the  net 
earnings  in  wire  rod  roiling  are  even  higher  than  this. 

727 


23 

Mr.  WARNER'S  table  contains  several  items  in  regard  to  re- 
ductions in  wages  said  to  have  been  made  in  the  Rhode  Island 
and  Fall  River  cotton  mills,  in  November,  1890,  and  in  1891.  T 
can  say  on  the  authority  of  the  representatives  of  the  mills  in 
question  that  these  statements  are  entirely  untrue,  and  that  no 
such  reductions  took  place. 

Prom  such  examination  as  I  have  been  able  to  make,  I  can  say 
that  the  various  statements  in  regard  to  reductions  of  wages  in 
cotton  mills  are  equally  untrue. 

Many  of  the  items  contained  in  Mr.  WARNER'S  list  of  reduc- 
tions are  of  the  most  absurd  character.  For  instance,  we  find 
the  following  under  date  of  September  24,  1891: 

Reduction  of  wages  in  the  entire  cotton  industry  is  feared  by  the  workmen 
at  Providence,  Pawtucket,  and  other  cities  in  Rhode  Island,  but  they  will  re- 
sort to  a  general  strike  rather  than  submit  to  a  reduction  in  their  miserable 
pittance,  which  is  already  bordering  on  the  starvation  level. 

There  was  not  the  slightest  foundation  for  this  sensational  re- 
port. On  the  contrary,  at  the  time  named  considerable  cotton 
machinery  was  idle  in  Rhode  Island  from  the  fact  that  the  sup- 
ply of  help  was  not  equal  to  the  demand. 

Mr.  WARNER'S  list  is  largely  made  up  of  similar  inconsequen- 
tial and  absurd  statements. 

It  is  perhaps  proper  that  I  should  say  a  word  in  regard  to  the 
condition  and  earnings  of  the  operatives  in  Rhode  Island. 

That  they  do  not  work  for  a  miserable  pittance  is  shown  by  a 
statement  which  I  submit  and  will  have  printed  in  the  RECORD, 
of  the  relative  wages  paid  in  a  cotton  mill  in  Rhode  Island  and 
one  in  Oldham,  England,  showing  the  much  greater  wages  in 
Rhods  Island.  The  mills  have  each  about  63, 000  spindles  and 
make  the  same  kind  of  goods.  This  table  was  furnished  me  by 
my  friend,  lately  an  honored  member  of  the  Senata,  Hon.  Jon- 
athan Chace. 

Instead  of  working  at  "  starvation  wages"  the  working  people 
of  my  State  are  enabled  from  their  earnings  to  live  as  well  and  as 
comfortably  as  any  similar  class  of  people  in  the  world;  and  their 
savings,  averaging  nearly  $1,000  for  each  family,  deposited  in 
the  saving  banks  of  the  State,  furnish  the  best  evidence  of  their 
prosperous  and  satisfactory  condition.  These  savings,  accumu- 
lated since  the  inauguration  of  the  protective  policy  of  the  United 

727 


24 

States,  are  greater  per  capita.  I  believe,  than  those  of  any  other 
industrial  community  in  the  world. 

Many  of  the  items  in  the  list  of  strikes  and  reductions  are  in- 
serted several  times,  apparently  in  order  to  swell  the  number. 

The  following-  letter  from  S,  N.  D.  North,  secretary  of  the  Na- 
tional Association  of  Wool  Manufacturers,  answers  the  state- 
ments contained  in  that  portion  of  the  table  submitted  by  the 
Senator  from  Missouri  which  relates  to  reduction  in  wages, 
strikes,  etc.,  in  woolen  mills: 

NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  or  WOOL  MANUFACTURERS, 

Boston,  Mass.,  July  20,  1892. 

DEAR  SIR:  Such  inquiries  as  I  have  been  able  to  make  justify  my  previous 
statement  that  there  have  been  no  reductions  of  wages  in  the  wool  manu- 
facture since  the  passage  of  the  McKinley  law:  on  the  contrary,  there  have 
been  many  increases,  and  there  was  never  a  time  when  so  many  operatives 
were  so  steadily  employed  in  this  industry  as  at  present. 

The  Warner  list  of  alleged  "strikes  and  reductions,"  so  far  as  relates  to 
woolens  and  worsteds,  is  a  mass  of  falsehoods,  duplications,  errors,  and  mis- 
statements.  Of  the  twenty-five  entries  that  appear  under  this  head,  five  are 
duplications  of  each,  other :  eight  are  about  cotton  mills,  and  one  relates  to 
a  silk  mill.  So  far  as  items  6, 17,  and  21  are  concerned,  I  refer  you  to  the 
inclosed  letter  of  the  Titus  Sheard  Company,  of  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  which 
shows  them  all  to  be  false,  the  facts  being  directly  the  reverse  of  those 
stated. 

Items  9  and  20,  stating  reductions  and  strikes  at  the  Arlington  Mills,  are 
both  false.  There  have  been  readj  ustments  of  the  method  of  payment  in  this 
mill,  under  which  both  the  weavers  and  the  wool-sorters  earn  as  much,  if 
not  more,  than  before  these  readjustments  were  made;  and,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  Arlington  Mills'  operatives  are  now  receiving  sixty  hours  pay  for 
fifty-eight  hours'  work,  which  involves  an  increase  of  3J  per  cent. 

No.  22,  regarding  the  Atlantic  Mills,  is  wholly  false.  There  has  been  no 
change  of  wages  or  trouble  of  any  kind  in  that  mill  since  it  passed  under  the 
present  management. 

The  only  item  in  the  whole  twenty-five  for  which  I  can  find  any  basis  in 
truth  is  the  Wanskuck  Mills,  who  did  attempt  a  reduction  in  weavers'  wages, 
which  led  to  a  strike  of  350  weavers.  The  complaint  in  the  Weybosset  was 
adjusted  by  placing  the  weavers  on  the  same  tariff  that  prevailed  in  the 
neighboring  mills. 

No.  23.— There  has  been  no  strike  or  reduction  in  the  mills  of  Switz  Condfi 
at  Oswego. 

The  only  cases  remaining  are  No.  2,  in  Illinois,  and  No.  24,  in  Delaware, 
about  which  I  know  nothing.  If  investigated,  I  have  no  doubt  the  facts 
would  show  that  there  have  been  no  reductions  in  these  cases.  Mr.  WARNER 
has  made  up  a  formidable-looking  list  by  seizing  upon  every  item  of  news- 
paper gossip  and  failing  to  ascertain  in  any  instance  the  real  facts  or  the 
actual  outcome.  To  one  familiar  with  the  facts  it  seems  as  though  Mr. 
WARNER  ought  to  be  heartily  ashamed  of  himself. 

I  have  now  answered,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  every  ques  tion  you  have 
addressed  to  me. 

Very  respectfully, 

S.  N.  D.  NORTH,  Secretary. 

Hon.  NELSON  W.  ALDRICH, 

United  States  Senate. 
727 


25 

[Inclosure.] 
TITUS  SHEABD  COMPANY,  EAGLE  MILLS, 

Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  July  14, 1892. 

DEAR  SIR:  In  reply  to  yours  of  the  13th  would  say  that  the  claim  made 
that  we  reduced  wages  in  1891  or  since  is  entirely  false;  in  fact,  we  have  in- 
creased the  wages  of  a  number  of  our  operatives  since  the  above  date.  This  is 
about  the  same  condition  intheother  mills  mentioned  in  your  correspondence. 
We  think  it  can  be  safely  said  that  never  in  the  history  of  the  knitting  in- 
dustry have  the  employe's  been  making  as  good  wages  as  at  the  present  time 
and  for  the  past  year;  also,  that  the  mills  are  well  employed ;  in  fact,  a  num- 
ber running  over  time,  some  all  night  with  two  sets  of  hands.  Some  time 
during  1891  we  went  on  a  new  class  of  work,  and  in  adjusting  the  wages  we 
were  obliged  to  do  it  entirely  by  guess.  After  running  a  few  months  we 
found  that  we  were  paying  too  much,  and  the  girls  which  were  on  this  class 
of  work  were  able  to  earn  from  $5  to  $6  a  day.  We  made  a  slight  reduction 
on  this  work  alone,  and  they  are  now  able  to  make  from  $3  to  $3  a  day  when 
steadily  on  this  class  of  work. 

We  shall  be  pleased  to  furnish  you  with  any  further  information  in  our 
power. 

Yours,  very  truly, 

TITUS  SHEARD  COMPANY. 
Mr.  S.  N.  D.  NORTH,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  believe  that  I  have  conclusively  shown  the  worthless  char- 
acter of  the  evidence  submitted  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
to  substantiate  his  claim  that  the  relations  between  employer 
andemploye  are  of  a  hostile  and  unsatisfactory  character. 

That  there  is  constant  movement  towards  a  higher  level  of 
wages  in  this  country  is  shown  by  the  reports  of  the  Eleventh 
Census  on  the  textile  industries  of  the  United  States.  These  re- 
ports show  a  considerable  increase  in  wages  in  every  branch. 
The  investigation  by  the  Senate  Finance  Committee  into  wages 
from  June,  1889,  to  September,  1891,  showed  an  average  increase 
for  the  occupations  included  in  the  inquiry  of  three-fourths  of 
1  per  cent.  All  similar  examinations  reveal  the  existence  of  a 
tendency  to  higher  rates. 

Contentions  between  employers  and  employes  over  rates  of 
wages,  hours  of  employment,  etc.,  occur  in  times  of  prosperity 
and  in  periods  of  business  depression.  No  country  in  the  world 
is  free  from  them,  and  their  recurrence  does  not  usually  indicate 
hostile  relations.  They  are  not  the  outgrowth  of  any  revenue 
system,  but  their  number  and  importance  has  been,  as  I  have 
shown,  reduced  to  a  minimum  under  recent  protective  legisla- 
tion. The  process  of  evolution  is  often  a  process  of  disturbance, 
and  through  disputes  over  rates  of  wages,  usually  of  friendly 
character,  just  conclusions  are  reached. 

727 


26 

The  next  statement  by  the  Sanator  from  Missouri  to  which  I 
shall  call  attention  is  that  there  has  never  been  such  prostration 
of  agricultural  interests  as  was  effected  by  the  act  of  1890.  In 
support  of  this  statement  no  evidence  whatever  was  submitted. 
No  asssrtion  could  be  more  diametrically  opposed  to  the  actual 
facts  of  the  case  than  this. 

In  no  class  of  people  in  the  United  States  has  the  improvement 
in  condition  been  so  marked  as  in  the  farmers  during  the  period 
under  consideration. 

The  relative  condition  of  the  agricultural  interests,  as  shown 
by  the  inquiry  of  the  Finance  Committee,  to  which  I  have  already 
alluded,  is  briefly  this: 

The  prices  received  for  farm  products  subsequent  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  act  of  1890  shows  an  average  increase  on  all  crops  of 
18.67  per  cent.  The  percentage  of  increase  on  many  important 
articles— corn,  for  instance,  at  47  par  cent — was  greatly  above 
this  average. 

It  will  be  seen  by  an  examination  of  the  raport  of  the  commit- 
tee that  the  advance  in  the  average  price  of  all  cereals,  the  com- 
putation being  made  according  to  their  relative  importance,  was 
33.59  per  cent.  The  price  received  for  meats  of  all  kind  averaged 
4  per  cent  higher  in  September,  1891,  than  in  June,  1889. 

The  most  striking  result  shown  by  the  inquiry  was  the  fact 
that  while  there  was  a  considerable  decline  in  the  prices  of  manu- 
factured acticles  which  enter  into  general  consumption  there  was 
an  advance  in  the  price  of  nearly  all  agricultural  products;  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for  the  great  decline  that  took  place  in  the  price 
of  sugar,  owing  to  removal  of  duties  by  the  act  of  1890,  that  large 
portion  of  the  cost  of  living  which  is  embraced  in  expenditures 
for  food  would  have  shown  an  increass  instead  of  diminution. 

During  the  period  covered  by  the  investigation  of  the  Finance 
Committee  there  were  several  months  in  which  the  prices  were 
higher  than  for  the  initial  period  of  the  investigation.  In  each, 
of  these  cases  the  increased  average  grew  solely  out  of  the  ad- 
vances in  price  of  agricultural  products.  This  is  illustrated  by 
the  list  which  follows,  of  the  articles  which  were  advanced  in 

727 


27 

price  in  April,  1891,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  increase  the  average 
for  that  month  to  a  point  considerably  above  the  general  average: 

Milk,  fresh;  turkey,  dressed;  cheese,  mutton,  beef,  roasting; 
oysters,  prunes,  California;  peaches,  canned;  oleomargarine, 
meal,  corn,  butter,  best  creamery;  eggs,  apples,  dried;  turnips, 
butter,  dairy;  onions,  cabbages,  potatoes,  tomatoes,  fresh. 

The  prices  of  the  articles  which  it  is  necessary  for  the  farmer 
to  buy  for  the  support  of  his  family  and  for  carrying  on  the  op- 
erations of  his  farm,  were  reduced  in  the  period  subsequent  to 
the  passage  of  the  act  on  an  average  2  per  cent  below  the  prices 
current  prior  to  that  time. 

The  percentage  of  reduction  which  took  place  in  the  prices  of 
the  class  of  articles  the  farmer  has  to  purchase  is  shown  by  the 
following  table  taken  from  the  report  of  the  committee,  the  price 
prior  to  passage  of  the  act  being  represented  by  100: 


Group. 


Retail. 


Cloths  and  clothing 

Fuel  and  lighting 

Metals  and  implements 

Lumber  and  building  material . 

Drugs  and  chemicals 

House-furnishing  goods 

Miscellaneous ... 


99.65 
98.69 
97.49 
98.28 
95.96 
99.82 
100.52 


It  is  not  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  my  argument  to  assume 
that  the  advance  in  farm  prices  of  agricultural  products  was 
due  entirely  to  the  operations  of  the  act  of  1890.  I  am  treat- 
ing at  this  time  the  statement  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri  as  to 
the  actual  facts.  I  believe  that  in  no  period  of  equal  length  in 
the  history  of  the  country  has  there  been  such  a  marked  im- 
provement in  the  condition  of  any  class  of  people  as  can  be  shown, 
using  the  language  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  by  irrefutable 
testimony,  to  have  taken  place  in  the  condition  of  the  farmers 
of  this  country  since  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1890. 

There  has  been  a  great  advance  in  the  sum  received  by  them 
for  their  crops  and  a  substantial  decline  in  pricas  of  articles,  es- 
pecially manufactured  products,  which  they  are  obliged  to  pur- 
chase. The  farmer  to-day,  with  an  equal  numbar  of  bushels  of 
72r 


28 


grain  or  pounds  of  meat,  can  buy  more  and  better  clothing,  ma- 
chinery, or  supplies,  than  ever  before.  Within  this  period  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  dollars  of  their  indebtedness  have  been  paid 
off,  and  as  a  class  their  financial  condition  vastly  improved.  By 
the  operations  of  the  act  of  1890  the  farmers  were  given  larger  and 
more  profitable  markets  both  at  home  and  abroad;  as  an  instance 
of  this  our  exports  to  Cuba — largely  of  agricultural  products — 
were  increased  during  the  ten  months  ending  June  30,  1892,  as 
compared  with  the  corresponding  ten  months  of  the  previous  fis- 
cal year,  $5,700,000,  or  an  increase  of  54.86  per  cent. 

It  is  quite  natural  for  all  classes  of  people  to  believe  that  their 
condition  ought  to  be  and  might  be  improved,  but  the  assurance 
displayed  in  this  Chamber  in  the  attempts  to  convince'the  farmer, 
in  the  face  of  the  facts  which  I  have  recited,  that  he  is  suffering 
untold  evils  as  the  result  of  tariff  legislation,  has  no  parallel. 

The  next  statement  made  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri,  to 
which  I  will  call  attention,  is  "That  there  had  never  been  such 
a  limiting  and  narrowing  of  foreign  markets  "  as  since  the  passage 
of  the  act  of  1890.  This  statement  is  equally  astounding  with  the 
others  I  have  alluded  to,  and  equally  at  variance  with  the  facts. 

The  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30.  1892,  consisted  of  imports  of  the  value  of  $827,- 
391,284,  and  of  exports  of  the  value  of  $1,030,335,626,  or  a  total 
value  of  imports  and  exports  of  $1,857,726,910. 

The  following  shows  the  rapid  growth  of  our  foreign  com- 
merce: 

foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States. 

IMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS. 


Years. 

Annual  aver- 
age. 

Per 
capita. 

Total  Imports  and  exports: 
1847  to  1861  

$553  000  000 

$17  08 

187610  189a... 

1,356,000,000 

25  20 

1892  

1,857,724  910 

28  32 

Imports  : 
1847to  1861  

348,000,000 

9  35 

1876  to  1890  

626,  000,  000 

11.63 

1892  

827,391,284 

12  61 

Exports: 
1847  to  1881     

205  000  000 

7  73 

1876  to  1890... 

730,000  000 

13  57 

1892  

1,030,335  626 

15  71 

727 


29 

This  table  contains  a  comparison  of  the  annual  values  of  total 
commerce  and  of  imports  and  exports,  and  the  amount  of  each 
per  capita  for  the  fifteen  years  of  the  revenue-tariff  period, 
1847-1861,  and  the  fifteen  years  which  preceded  the  adoption  of 
the  act  of  1890,  and  for  the  first  fiscal  year  after  all  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act  went  into  effect.  No  other  country  can  show 
such  a  record  of  expansion  and  development. 

I  submit  a  table  showing  the  total  imports  and  exports  of 
merchandise  and  the  excess  of  exports  over  imports  for  the  fiscal 
years  1884  to  1892,  inclusive. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  excess  of  exports  over  imports,  or  bal- 
ance of  trade  in  our  favor  was  $202,944,342,  in  1892  an  excess  oi 
exports  over  imports  that  has  been  exceeded  in  amount  but  three 
times  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

I  also  submit  a  table  showing  the  proportion  of  dutiable  to  free 
imports,  and  the  average  ad  valorem  rate  collected  on  dutiable 
imports  and  on  all  imports  for  the  years  1889  to  1892,  inclusive. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  ad  valorem  rate  on  all  importations 
for  the  fiscal  year  1892  was  20.65  per  cent,  the  lowest  rate  since 
1861,  and  a  lower  rate  than  the  average  imposed  by  the  act  of 
1846. 

The  following  table  shows  the  percentage  of  free  and  dutiable 
importations  under  each  of  our  tariff  laws  enacted  since  1847: 

Importationsunderthe  various  tariff  laws,  from  1847  to  1892.    Percentages  of  free 
and  dutiable. 


Period. 

Dutia- 
ble. 

Free. 

1847  to  1857... 

Perct. 
88 

Per  ct. 
12 

1858  to  1861  

78 

22 

18T9to  1883    

70 

30 

1884tol890  

66.5 

33.5 

1892  

44.6 

55.4 

This  table  discloses  the  rapid  growth  of  the  free  list  with  ad- 
vances in  protective  legislation.  The  tables  taken  together  fur- 
nish convincing  evidence  to  disprove  the  statement  so  freely 
made  as  to  the  restrictive  effects  of  such  legislation  on  foreign 


commerce. 

727 


30 

An  analysis  of  details  of  both  imports  and  exports  will  develop 
the  fact  that  desirable  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  charac- 
ter of  each.  The  exports  of  manufactured  and  other  articles  ex- 
clusive of  all  farm  and  agricultural  products  and  petroleum, 
amounted  in  value  in  1892  to  $237,665,370.  This  value  of  expor- 
tation of  manufactured  articles,  etc.,  it  will  be  observed,  is  $32,- 
000,000  greater  than  the  total  average  annual  value  of  all  exports 
for  the  period  1847  to  1861. 

I  also  present  a  table,  which  I  will  have  printed,  showing  the 
value  of  the  exports  of  the  leading  products  for  each  year  from 
1888  to  1892,  inclusive.  The  amount  of  duty  per  capita  collected 
during  the  fiscal  year  1892  was  $2.62;  that  is,  less  than  half  the 
relative  amount  collected  in  1872,  the  amount  for  the  latter  year 
having  been  $5.28  per  capita. 

These  statements  and  comparisons  must  be  extremely  gratify- 
ing to  every  patriotic  American.  They  show  beyond  any  possi- 
bility of  doubt  that  the  expansion  of  our  foreign  commerce  was 
accelerated  rather  than  narrowed  and  limited  by  the  act  of  1890, 
as  stated  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  speech  delivered  by  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  on  the  6th  of  June  was  devoted  to  a  consideration 
of  the  duties  on  wool  and  woolens,  in  which  the  Senator  endeav- 
ored to  prove  that  these  duties  have  been  injurious  alike  to  wool- 
growers,  woolen  manufacturers,  and  consumers. 

In  discussing  the  effect  which  the  tariff  on  wool  has  upon  the 
American  wool-grower,  the  Senator  from  Missouri  said: 

The  wool-grower  in  this  country  has  not  received  one  cent  of  this  protection ; 
and  I  shall  prove  by  figures  that  every  dollar  of  it  has  gone  into  the  pockets 
of  the  manufacturers  and  will  continue  to  go  there.  *  *  *  No  man  can 
show  that  these  enormous  tariffs  benefited  the  wool-growers  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  impossible  that  they  could  have  done  so,  because  the  wool- 
growers  received  no  part  of  the  bounty.  *  *  *  For  twenty-three  years 
the  wool-grower  of  the  United  States  had  never  received  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  a  cent  a  pound  higher  price  for  his  wool  than  the  wool-grower  of 
England. 

In  reply  to  a  question  by  the  Senator  from  Mississippi  [Mr. 
GEORGE]  in  regard  to  this  latter  statement,  the  Senator  from 
Missouri  said  that  these  prices  "  were  for  the  same  quality  of 
wool." 

727 


31 

This  assertion  that  the  prices  of  wool  of  equal  quality  are  and 
have  been  for  many  years  substantially  the  same  in  the  United 
States  and  in  Great  Britain  is  made  the  basis  of  most  of  the  ar- 
guments that  have  recently  been  made  in  favor  of  the  removal 
of  the  duties  on  wool. 

In  support  of  the  assertion,  the  Senator  from  Missouri  relies, 
first,  upon  a  comparison  of  certain  reports  of  the  Treasury  De- 
partment, giving  the  average  foreign  price  of  all  wools  imported, 
with  the  reports  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  giving  the 
farm  prices  of  the  wool  produced  in  the  United  States;  and 
second,  a  statement  prepared  by  Mr.  S.  N.  D.  North,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  National  Wool  Manufacturers'  Association,  giving 
the  relative  prices  for  a  series  of  years  of  medium  Ohio  fleece 
in  the  United  States,  and  Port  Phillip  fleece  in  London. 

The  reports  of  the  Treasury  Department  and  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  referred  to  by  the  Senator,  afford  no  basis  what- 
ever for  a  comparison  between  the  prices  of  foreign  and  domes- 
tic wool  of  the  same  or  similar  grades  or  qualities,  as  they  are 
the  average  of  prices  for  all  kinds,  and  just  what  kinds  are  in- 
cluded in  the  average  in  any  case  is  not  known.  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, that  the  statement  furnished  by  Mr.  North  does  apply  to 
specific  grades  of  wool  and  to  grades  that  for  many  years  have 
sold  in  London  and  the  United  States  at  substantially  the  same 
prices.  They  are,  however,  sold  in  their  respective  markets  in 
very  different  conditions,  and  the  net  cost  of  cleaned  wool  to 
purchasers  is  widely  different.  The  Senator  from  Missouri  was 
not  aware,  I  am  sure,  that  Mr.  North  had  protested  in  a  pub- 
lished letter  against  the  use  which  had  been  made  of  his  figures. 
Mr.  North's  calculations  of  the  relative  shrinkage  of  the  two 
grades  of  wool  establishes  the  fact  that  the  difference  in  their 
actual  value  was  about  equal  to  the  wool  duties  levied  by  our  tariff. 
The  Australian  wools  are  sold  skirted,  while  the  Ohio  wools  are 
not. 

For  the  purpose  of  showing  the  actual  cost  to  an  American 
manufacturer  of  a  pound  of  scoured  domestic  wool  purchased  in 
the  United  States  as  compared  with  the  cost  to  his  English 

competitor  of  a  pound  of  scoured  wool  of  similar  quality  in 
727 


32 


London,  I  submit  the  following  table,  which  shows  the  average 
annual  price  for  each  of  the  twelve  years,  1881  to  1892,  inclusive, 
of  a  scoured  pound  of  fine  Ohio  fleece  in  the  United  States,  and 
of  average  Australian  fleece  in  London: 

Comparison  of  prices  of  Ohio  and  Australian  wools. 


Year. 

Price  of 
fine  Ohio 
fleece, 
scoured. 

Price  in 
London  of 
Austra- 
lian aver- 
age fleece, 
scoured. 

Difference 
of  the  two 
prices. 

1881 

80.95J 

$0.53 

$0.421 

1882                  

.90£ 

.53 

.37| 

1883                                 

!8r 

.51 

.35 

1884                

.80J 

.48 

.32i 

1885                             

.7l| 

.41 

.301 

1886        

.74* 

.41 

.33* 

1887                                                        

.731 

.42 

.311 

1888                       

.68 

.42 

.26 

1889                                       

.73J 

.48 

.25J 

1890                                   

.44 

.29i 

1891                              

.70$ 

.40 

.30J 

1892    

.32 

.30i 

Average  difference  for  the  twelve  years,  32  cents.     ^ 

The  prices  for  Ohio  fleece  are  furnished  by  Messrs.  Mauger  & 
A  very,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  and  the  London  prices  are  furnished  by 
Helmuth,  Schwartze  &  Co. ,  the  well-known  London  wool-brokers. 

It  will  be  seen  by  these  figures  which  are  furnished  by  those 
highest  in  authority  in  their  respective  countries,  that  the 
American  farmer  or  wool-grower  received  the  full  benefit  of  the 
tariff  on  wool,  and  that  he  obtains  on  an  average  32  cents  more 
per  pound  for  his  wool,  not  including  dirt  and  other  impurities, 
than  his  Australian  competitor.  The  price  of  the  pound  of 
clean  wool  is  of  course  the  only  test  of  actual  relative  value  to 
the  manufacturer,  as  this  fixes  the  cost  of  his  material. 

I  also  submit  a  table  of  prices  for  the  years  18S1  to  1891,  in- 
clusive, taken  from  a  similar  statement  published  by  Justice, 
Hut .  •111:111  &  Co. ,  of  Philadelphia.  In  this  table  the  comparison  is 
made  between  Ohio  medium  fleece  and  New  Zealand  crossbred, 
ana  the  quotations  for  each  grade  are  the  average  price  for  each 
year: 

727 


33 


Comparison  of  prices  of  American  ami  Australian  scoured  wools. 
[Justice,  Bateman  &  Co.'s  bulletin,  May  2, 1892.] 


Year. 

American 
scoured 
Ohio 
medium. 

Australian 
scoured 
New 
Zealand 
crossbred. 

Difference 
between 
the  two 
prices. 

1881 

JO.  81i 

$0.34 

80.47J 

1882 

.76? 

.31 

451 

1883                                        .                 

.7H 

.26 

.45* 

18s4... 

.66^ 

.27 

.394 

1885 

.55 

.29 

.26 

1886... 

.60 

.31 

.29 

1887 

.634 

.331 

.301 

1886... 

.581 

.31 

.274 

1889        .                       .   .                       .       . 

.634 

.33 

.30i 

1890... 

.61J 

33j' 

.27J 

1891. 

.61J 

.34 

.274. 

Average  difference  for  the  eleven  years 

.34 

Justice,  Bateman  &  Co.  make  the  following  statement  in  re- 
gard to  the  wools  included  in  this  latter  table: 

Both  of  the  above  grades  are  three-eighths  or  one-half  blood  merino.  They 
each  shrink  about  40  per  cent  in  the  scouring.  There  are  perhaps  no  other 
wools  in  the  world  so  nearly  alike  and  so  suitable  for  a  fair  comparison  of  the 
European  and  American  prices  as  Ohio  medium  and  the  grade  of  Australasian 
medium  known  as  New  Zealand  crossbred,  as  they  are  both  spun  to  the  same 
numbers  or  counts. 

The  English  figures  given  in  this  table  are  furnished  by  Messrs. 
Windeler  &  Co.,  of  London,  and  the  American  figures  by  Messrs. 
Mauger  &  A  very. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  average  difference  between  Amer- 
ican and  English  wools  in  this  case  is  34  cents  a  pound.  Upon 
the  basis  of  these  comparisons  it  must  be  evident: 

That  the  successful  prosecution  of  wool-growing  as  an  Amer- 
ican industry  depends  upon  the  maintenance  of  a  wool  tariff. 
I  know  of  no  single  instance  in  which  protective  duties  have  been 
more  effectual  or  where  the  direct  and  positive  benefits  are  so 
apparent  as  in  the  duty  upon  wool. 

The  results  of  thjs  examination  also  establish  the  necessity  of 
maintaining  existing  specific  rates  upon  woolen  goods,  if  the  duty 
is  to  be  maintained  on  wool  and  the  business  of  manufacturing 
woolens  is  to  be  carried  on  in  the  United  States. 

I  have  elsewhere  referred  to  the  Senator's  claim  that  labor  in 
the  United  States  is  as  cheap  as  anywhere  in  the  world;  but  to 
show  how  far  wide  of  the  mark  this  statement  is  when  applied 
727 — 3 


34 

to  operatives  in  woolen  mills,  I  will  print  in  the  RECORD  a  table 
of  the  relative  wages  paid. 

This  table  furnishes  the  most  complete  and  authoritative  state- 
ment of  relative  wages  in  worsted  mills  that  I  know  of.  The 
rates  were  collected  by  an  expert  from  the  boaks  of  manufac- 
turers and  show  that  American  wages  are  on  an  average  more 
than  100  per  cent  higher  than  those  in  competing  countries. 

The  Senator  from  Missouri  was  troubled  with  conflicting  emo- 
tions when  considering  the  case  of  the  woolen  manufacturers. 
After  claiming  that  the  wool  duties  did  not  benefit  the  farmer, 
he  said: 

Every  dollar  of  it — that  is,  the  duty  upon  wool— has  gone  into  the  pockets 
of  the  manufacturer,  and  will  continue  to  go  there.  *  *  *  It  is  nothing 
but  a  bounty  that  goes  to  the  manufacturer. 

In  this  connection  he  stated  that  the  profits  of  a  single  estab- 
lishment, the  Arlington  Mills,  had  bean  50  per  cent  in  a  single 
year;  and  yet  in  another  portion  of  his  spesch  he  said: 

The  general  wool-manufacturing  industry  of  the  country  has  gone  down. 
The  men  who  are  the  legitimate  wool  manufacturers  have  lost  money. 

It  may  be  profitable  to  pay  some  attention  to  the  question 
raised  by  the  honorable  Senator  in  regard  to  the  profits  of  woolen 
manufacturers,  especially  in  view  of  the  statements  that  are  con- 
stantly reiterated  that  protective  tariff  benefits  the  few  at  the 
expense  of  the  many,  and  that  manufacturers  are  reaping  enor- 
mous rewards  in  all  protected  industries.  The  Senator  from 
Iowa  [Mr.  ALLISON]  will  answer  in  respect  to  the  profits  of  the 
Arlington  Mills,  and  I  will  invite  your  consideration  to  the  re- 
port of  the  bureau  of  statistics  of  labor  of  Massachusetts  for  1890, 
which  contains  an  elaborate  examination  into  the  net  profits  of  the 
manufacturing  industries  of  that  State.  As  a  result  of  this  ex- 
haustive examination,  it  is  shown  that  the  average  net  profits 
in  establishments  producing  woolen  goods  in  Massachusetts  for 
the  year  for  which  the  statistics  were  obtained  were  5.21  per 
cent  of  the  selling  price,  equivalent  to  5.47  per  cent  of  the  capi- 
tal invested.  Similar  investigations  in  regard  to  the  production 
of  worsted  goods  showed  that  the  net  profits  in  this  industry 
amounted  to  2.34  per  cent  on  the  selling  price,  equivalent  to  2.21 
per  cent  on  the  capital  invested. 

727 


35 

The  report  of  the  bureau  of  labor  statistics  of  Connecticut 
contains  similar  statistics  in  regard  to  the  profit  of  woolen 
manufacturers  in  that  State.  This  report  shows  that  the  net 
profits  on  the  capital  invested  in  1890  were  7.57  per  cent  and  on 
the  value  of  goods  manufactured  7.19  per  cent.  In  1889  the 
profits  on  capital  were  4.27  per  cent,  and  on  the  value  of  goods 
3.43  per  cent.  In  1888,  on  capital,  4.73  per  cent;  on  goods  manu- 
factured, 4.83  per  cent.  In  1887,  a  loss  of  seven teen-hundredths 
of  1  per  cent  on  the  capital,  with  a  profit  of  two-tenths  of  1  per 
cent  on  the  value  of  goods  manufactured. 

These  statistics  prove  that  the  average  profit  to  the  manufac- 
turer of  woolen  goods  for  the  years  covered  by  the  inquiry  is  not 
greater  than  the  average  rate  of  interest,  and  effectually  dis- 
pose of  the  statement  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri  in  regard  to 
exorbitant  profits  of  wool  manufacturers.  The  reports  alluded 
to  contain  similar  statistics  showing  that  the  profits  on  other 
manufactures  approximate  those  in  woolen  manufactures. 

Tt  would  be  perilous  for  the  Senator  from  Missouri  to  place 
the  various  parts  of  his  wool  tariff  argument  in  proximity. 

If,  as  he  asserts,  with  so  muqh  assurance  in  each  case,  (1)  the 
cost  of  wool  to  the  American  woolen  manufacturer  is  no  greater 
than  to  his  foreign  competitor;  and  (2)  if  labor  is  even  cheaper 
he  re  than  abroad;  and  (3)  if  the  legitimate  woolen  manufacturers 
lose  money;  and  (4)  if  the  tariff  on  woolens  is  100  per  cent  ad  va- 
lorem, it  must  be  evident,  with  annual  importations  of  manu- 
factures of  wool  valued  at  from  forty  to  fifty  millions  of  dollars, 
paying  these  high  duties,  that  the  generous  foreign  manufac- 
turer pays  from  his  own  pocket  the  full  amount  of  the  high  duty 
for  the  privilege  of  selling  his  products  to  the  American  people. 
The  unsoundness  of  each  of  the  Senator's  premises,  however, 
saves  him  from  an  embarrassing  choice  of  absurd  conclusions. 

The  framers  of  the  act  of  1890  were  confident  that  the  adoption 
of  its  provisions  would  lead  to  the  establishment  of  new  and  the 
enlargement  and  development  of  old  industries.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  the  elections  of  1890  greatly  hindered  the  march 
of  improvement  in  this  direction,  the  result  attained  has  been 
satisfactory.  Many  new  industries  have  been  established  which 

787 


36 

had  no  existence  in  1890.    Of  these  the  most  notable  is  that  of 
the  manufacture  of  tin  plate. 

No  portion  of  the  act  of  1890  received  such  severe  criticism 
when  the  measure  was  under  discussion  in  Congress  as  the  pro- 
vision which  levied  2.2  cents  a  pound  duty  upon  importations  of 
tin  and  terne  plate;  and  the  debate  in  regard  to  the  wisdom  of 
this  feature  of  the  act  continues  with  unabated  vigor.  The  men 
who  were  active  in  presenting  the  case  in  behalf  of  the  tin-plate 
industry  to  the  committees  of  Congress,  and  who  have  been  the 
pioneers  in  its  establishment,  have  been  subjected  to  undeserved 
villifi cation  and  abuse .  It  would  appear  that  in  the  eyes  of  a  tariff 
reformer,  to  suggest  the  inauguration  of  a  new  industry  in  the 
United  States  is  a  misdemeanor,  and  to  achieve  even  partial  suc- 
cess in  such  an  enterprise  is  a  crime  for  which  no  punishment  is 
too  severe. 

None  of  the  pioneers  I  have  alluded  to  were  rich  men,  but  they 
were  ardent,  enthusiastic,  and  certainly  deserve  credit  from  the 
American  people  for  their  energy  and  persistence. 

While  the  bill  was  under  discussion,  the  principal  objection 
urged  against  the  imposition  of  the  duty  was  that  the  industry 
could  never  be  established  here;  it  was  said  that  the  people  of 
Wales  had  attained  such  a  degree  of  skill  and  experience  that 
it  was  useless  to  think  of  competing  with  them  in  a  production  of 
which  they  were  the  complete  masters.  It  was  further  urged 
that  even  if  the  necessary  skill  could  be  secured,  that  the  processes 
by  which  tin  plates  were  made  were  so  unhealthy  and  degrading 
that  American  workingmen  never  would  engage  in  them. 

These  cries  of  the  opposition  have  been  abandoned,  and  from 
time  to  time  new  objections,  each  one  more  trivial  and  absurd  than 
its  predecessor,  have  been  discovered  by  the  political  or  busi- 
ness opponents  of  the  tin-plate  duties.  Notwithstanding  all  the 
clamor  and  plain  downright  lying  that  has  been  indulged  in  by  the 
men  who  are  putting  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  success  in  the 
establishment  of  this  great  industry  of  the  United  States,  the 
work  of  building  it  up  has  gone  steadily  forward.  The  number 
of  pounds  of  tin  and  terne  plate  manufactured  in  each  of  the 

727 


37 

quarters  of  the  fiscal  year,  which  closed  on  the  30th  of  June,  1892, 
was  as  follows: 

Quarter  ending—  Pounds. 

September  30,  1891 826,922 

December  31,  1891 1,409,821 

March  31,  1892 3,004,087 

June  30,  1892 8,225,691 

Of  the  8,225,691  pounds  produced  in  the  last  quarter  over  5,000,- 
000  pounds  were  made  from  black  plates  produced  in  the  United 
States.  The  competent  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment who  has  the  collection  of  statistics  in  regard  to  tin  plates 
in  charge,  estimates  in  a  letter  which  I  submit  and  will  have 
printed  in  the  RECORD,  that  the  production  for  the  current  fis- 
cal year  will  be  at  least  100,000,000  pounds,  and  that  by  the  close 
of  the  year  the  production  will  be  at  the  annual  rate  of  203,000,- 
000  pounds. 

The  special  agent  has  also  prepared  for  me  a  list  of  the  twenty- 
six  firms  and  corporations  who  have  produced  tin  or  terne  plates 
in  the  last  quarter,  with  the  amount  produced  by  each.  Seven 
of  these  names  appear  in  the  list  of  producers  for  the  first  time, 
and  Mr.  Ayer  reports  that  some  eight  or  ten  addition  al  firms 
expect  to  begin  the  manufacture  within  t  he  present  quarter. 
Many  of  the  names  included  in  the  list  represent  the  strongest 
firms  in  the  country,  several  of  whom  were  among  the  most  ar- 
dent opponents  of  the  imposition  of  the  additional  duties. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  elections  of  1890  and  the 
possibility  of  Democratic  success  in  1892  have  much  to  do  with  re- 
tarding the  progress  of  the  manufacture  in  the  United  States. 
That  this  is  perfectly  well  understood  in  Wales  is  shown  by  the 
following  extracts  from  the  Industrial  World,  published  in 
Swansea,  Wales,  the  official  organ  of  the  Welsh  tin-plate  work- 
ers. The  extract  is  taken  from  the  issue  of  June  10, 1892: 

Do  not  be  deceived.  The  victory  of  the  Republicans  at  the  polls  means  the 
retention  of  the  McKinley  bill,  and  means  the  rapidly  accruing  loss  of  the 
80  per  cent  of  the  export  American  trade.  Had  there  been  no  Democratic 
victory  in  1890  the  spread  of  the  tin-plate  manufacture  in  the  United  States 
would  have  been  both  rapid  and  bona  fide.  That  victory  was  a  stupendous 
shock  to  the  Republicans,  and  it  almost  paralyzed  the  would-be  tin-plate 
manufacturers  of  America.  Nevertheless  they  pulled  themselves  together, 
and  at  once  saw  that  they  must  make  as  brave  a  showing  as  possible  in  time 
tor  the  double  election  of  November,  in  1892,  viz,  a  new  Congress  and  a 
727 


38 

President.    *   *   *   They  have  put  up,  or  have  appeared  to  put  up,  a  good 
many  works.    *   *    * 

Now,  I  contend  that  If  the  masters  and  men  had  at  once  seen  the  need  of  a 
desperate  flght  to  upset  the  American  programme;  had  met  together,  had 
sunk  their  fierce  antipathies  and  jealousies  and  had  boldly  agreed  to  divide 
the  hardship  of  the  struggle  for  a  few  months,  a  different  state  of  things 
would  have  been  in  existence  now,  and  fewer  American  tin-plate  establish- 
ments would  have  seen  the  light.  *  *  *  Plates  ought  to  be  cheaper  as 
November  approaches  and  the  battle  begins.  It  is  not  yet  too  late  to  do  some- 
thing to  reduce  the  price  of  plates.  Put  them  down  to  11».  per  box  of  1C, 
14  by  20,  full-weight  basis.  Let  the  workmen  take  half  pay  for  a  few  months, 
and  turn  out  more.  Then  let  the  masters  forego  profits  for  the  same  time. 
The  merchants  will  help  to  save  the  trade  and  their  skins— depend  upon  that. 

This  discloses  the  state  of  feeling  in  Wales.  On  this  side  the 
water,  unfortunately,  the  allies  of  the  Welch  manufacturers  are 
numerous  and  boisterous.  It  will  be  a  disgrace  to  American  enter- 
prise if  the  opportunity  to  establish  this  great  manufacture  in 
our  midst,  which  is  now  within  the  reach  of  success,  is  allowed 
to  fail. 

All  patriotic  Americans  should  agree  as  to  the  benefits  that 
would  accrue  from  the  addition  of  this  manufacture  to  the  cata- 
logue of  national  industries. 

While  the  Senate  tariff  bill  of  1888  was  pending  in  the  Com- 
mittee on  Finance  much  testimony  was  taken  in  regard  to  the 
relative  cost  of  producing  tin  plate  in  Wales  and  in  the  United 
States.  These  statements  showed  that  the  duty  then  asked  for, 
would  be  necessary  in  order  to  thoroughly  protect  the  American 
producer.  For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  changes  if  any 
had  taken  place  in  the  relative  cost  of  production,  I  have  re- 
quested a  gentleman  who  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  conditions 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  to  furnish  me  a  statement  of  the 
relative  cost  of  producing  tin  plates  at  the  present  time.  This 
statement,  which  I  submit,  and  will  have  printed  in  the  RECORD, 
shows  the  details  of  cost  in  the  two  countries.  These  figures 
show  that  the  cost  of  making  1C  coke  plate  to-day  in  the  United 
States  is  $5. 32  per  box.  and  in  Wales  $3.20  per  box. 

A  close  analysis  of  this  table  will  show  that  the  difference  in, 
cost  is  really  a  difference  in  the  wages  paid  in  the  two  countries. 
To  substantiate  this  more  fully,  I  submit  and  will  have  printed 
in  the  RECORD  a  table  showing  the  wages  actually  paid  per  box 
in  tin  and  black  plate  mills  in  Wales  and  in  the  United  States. 
This  table  shows  the  actual  difference  in  the  cost  of  labor  in  the 


39 


production  of  tin  plates  from  the  bars  to  the  finished  sheet.  They 
are  the  wages  established  by  the  Tin  Plate  Workers'  Union  in 
Wales  and  by  the  Amalgamated  Association  of  Iron  and  Steel 
Workers  in  the  United  States,  and  there  can  be  no  question  about 
their  accuracy. 

Statements  of  the  relative  cost  of  production  have  recently 
been  published  by  Mr.  J.  D.  Weeks  in  the  American  Manufac- 
turer, which  show  the  foreign  cost  at  $2.97  and  the  American 
cost  at  $4.90.  Mr.  Weeks's  figures  do  not  allow  for  wastage,  and 
are  made  up  for  Pittsburg,  and  show  a  lower  cost  of  bars  than 
those  submitted  by  me,  which  take  as  a  basis  the  cost  to  Eastern 
manufacturers.  The  estimated  difference  in  cost  in  the  two 
countries  is  practically  the  same  in  both  cases  and  establishes 
the  fact  that  existing  duties  are  not  excessive. 

In  order  to  show  how  completely  the  Welch  manufacturers 
control  the  price  of  tin  plates  and  how  they  have  been  accustomed 
to  manipulate  the  market  for  their  own  benefit,  usually  at  the 
expense  of  consumers  in  the  United  States,  I  submit  herewith  a 
statement  which  shows  the  relative  price  of  I  C  coke  plates  and 
of  Bessemer  tin-plate  bars  and  tin  at  London  and  Liverpool  at 
the  dates  named: 


First  week  in— 

September, 
1890. 

May,  1891. 

July,  1892. 

1C  coke  tin  plate,  per  box  ...  

$3.41 
26.76 
457.45 

$4.06 
24.94 
444.67 

$3.03 
23.04 

489.85 

Bessemer  tin-plate  bars,  per  ton 

Tin,  per  ton  

By  this  table  it  appears  that  while  the  price  of  1C  coke  tin 
advanced  between  September,  1890,  and  May,  1891, 65  cents  abox, 
the  price  of  Bessemer  bars  declined  $1.82  per  ton,  and  the  price 
of  pig  tin  declined  $12.78  per  ton. 

With  the  decline  which  took  place  in  bars  alone  between  Sep- 
tember and  May,  other  things  being  equal,  the  price  of  tin  plate 
should  have  declined  11  cents  per  box.  Instead  of  this,  there 
was  an  advance  of  65  cents  per  box ,  made  possible  by  the  condition 
of  affairs  in  America,  the  American  tin-plate  duties  going  into 
effect  July  1,  1891;  and  the  profits  of  the  Welsh  manufacturers 
were  increased  76  cents  per  box  in  1891,  as  compared  with  1890. 

727 


40 

The  price  of  coal  also  declined  in  this  period  36  cents  per  ton. 
Wages  and  other  costs  undoubtedly  remained  substantially  un- 
changed, as  the  wages  paid,  union  prices,  in  tin-plate  works  in 
Wales  have  not  changed  for  fifteen  years. 

An  equally  striking  exhibition  is  made  in  the  comparison  be- 
tween May,  1891,  and  July,  1892.  In  this  period  the  price  of  bars 
further  declined  $1.90  per  ton,  and  the  reduction  in  a  box  of  tin 
plates  based  upon  this  decline  should  have  been  12  cents  a  box, 
other  things  remaining  equal.  Instead  of  this,  the  actual  de- 
cline was  $1.03  per  box,  or  a  reduction  in  this  casa  of  the  profits 
of  the  Welsh  manufacturer  of  91  cents  per  box. 

It  is  evident  from  these  statements  that  the  Welsh  prices  are 
put  up  and  down  in  responsa  to  existing  exigencies  in  the  United 
States.  When  the  prophesies  of  their  allies  on  this  side  of  the 
water  in  regard  to  high  prices  were  to  be  verified,  prices  were 
put  up  90  cants  per  box  in  the  face  of  a  sharp  decline  in  materials; 
but  when  American  manufacturers  are  to  be  discouraged  and  if 
possible  driven  out  of  the  market,  on  the  eve  of  an  election,  the 
price  is  put  down  $1.03  per  box. 

In  the  absence  of  an  American  industry,  American  consumers 
are  thus  always  at  the  mercy  of  the  foreign  producers.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  with  the  advance  in  duties  of  1.2  cents  per 
pound  there  is  a  decline  in  the  Welsh  market  of  more 'than  a 
cent  a  pound  on  light-weight  plates,  the  present  price  of  these 
plates  being,  as  I  have  already  shown,  more  than  a  dollar  a  box 
less  than  the  price  in  1891,  and  3s.  Qd.  lower  than  the  average 
price  for  the  twelve  years  from  1878  to  1889,  inclusive. 

From  this  showing  it  is  very  uncertain  whether  any  saving  in 
cost  to  the  American  consumer  would  be  effected  by  the  removal 
of  the  tin-plate  duties,  as  it  would  probably  result  in  a  restora- 
tion of  price  by  the  Welsh  manufacturer. 

When  the  act  of  1890  was  before  the  Senate,  I  expressed  great 
confidence  that  within  three  years,  if  the  tin-plate  duties  were 
imposed,  that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  tin  plate  consumed 
in  the  United  States  would  be  of  American  production.  I  have 
no  reason  whatever  to  change  the  views  then  expressed.  Every- 
thing that  has  transpired  since  confirms  their  correctness.  The 
tin-plate  industry  of  the  United  States  is  now  an  accomplished 

727 


41 

fact.    But  one  thing  is  necessary  for  its  triumphant  success,  and 
that  is  the  maintenance  of  the  protective  duties. 

The  exports  from  Great  Britain  to  the  United  States  for  the 
last  four  years  have  been  as  follows,  amounts  stated  in  gross 
tons: 


Tons. 

1889 331,673 

1890 296,218 


Tons. 

1891 442,306 

1892 203,941 


The  exports  of  the  last  twelve  months  being  238,365  tons  less 
than  for  the  previous  year;  92,277  tons  less  than  in  1890;  and  127,- 
732  tons  less  than  in  1889. 

Of  this  amount,  however,  it  should  be  understood  that  probably 
about  150,000,000  pounds,  or  about  67, 000  tons,  are  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  cans  for  export.  On  these  exportations  a  draw- 
back is  paid  to  the  exporter  practically  equal  to  the  full  amount 
of  the  duties.  As  long  as  anything  like  the  present  difference 
in  the  cost  of  production  exists  between  the  United  States  and 
Wales  the  American  producers  can  not  hope  to  compete  for  this 
trade;  so  that  the  portion  of  the  market  which  the  American 
producer  can  have  any  expectations  of  securing  will  be  repre- 
sented this  year  by  an  importation  of  136,000  tons.  Unless  we 
should  have  a  reversal  of  the  policy  of  the  United  States  grow- 
ing out  of  the  elections  next  November,  it  is  entirely  safe  to  pre- 
dict that  within  two  years  from  this  time  very  much  the  larger 
part  of  this  amount  will  be  produced  in  the  United  States  by 
American  labor. 

The  Senator  from  Missouri,  in  his  speech  of  June  28,  called 
attention  to  a  statement  made  by  the  Tin  Plate  Consumers'  Asso- 
ciation, that  the  present  output  amounted  to  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  the  entire  consumption  of  the  United  States.  If  we  as- 
sume the  consumption  of  the  United  States  for  last  year  to  be  600,- 
000,000  pounds,  or  less  the  amount  exported,  450,000,000  pounds, 
we  should  have  a  domestic  production,  based  upon  the  returns  of 
the  last  quarter,  equal  to  about  7  per  cent  of  the  total  consump- 
tion. Considering  the  difficulties  which  the  tin-plate  manufac- 
turers have  had  to  overcome,  many  of  them  difficulties  which 
are  inherent  to  the  introduction  of  any  new  industry,  and  taking 
into  consideration  the  discouraging  effect  of  the  political  influ- 
ences to  which  I  have  referred,  it  seems  to  me  that  the  progress 

727 


42 


made  is  very  satisfactory  and  will  compare  very  favorably  with 
the  progress  made  at  the  inception  of  the  steel  rail  manufacture 
or  in  the  inauguration  of  any  of  the  other  great  branches  of  the 
iron  and  steel  industry. 

Another  point  which  was  made  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
finds  a  place  in  the  speech  of  every  opponent  of  tin-plate  duties. 
It  is  the  claim,  which  has  often  been  controverted,  that  the  move- 
ment to  put  an  additional  duty  upon  tin-plate  originated  with  the 
galvanized  sheet-iron  manufacturers  of  Pittsburg,  whose  sole  ob- 
ject was  to  advance  the  price  of  their  own  product  and  prevent 
the  competition  that  might  arise  from  the  use  of  tin-plate  for 
roofing  purposes.  It  is  further  claimed  in  this  connection  that 
these  gentlemen  had  no  idea  of  establishing  the  tin-plate  manu- 
facture in  the  United  States,  and  that  no  serious  attempt  in 
that  direction  is  now  being  made. 

In  proof  of  their  alleged  purpose,  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
claims  that  an  advance  of  1  cent  per  pound  in  the  price  of  galvan- 
ized sheet  iron  followed  closely  upon  the  imposition  of  the  addi- 
tional tin-plate  duties  of  1.2  cents  per  pound.  The  following  list 
of  prices  of  galvanized  sheet  iron,  No.  24  gauge,  for  each  of  the 
yeai's  from  1888 -to  1892,  inclusive,  has  been  furnished  me  by  the 
McDaniel  &  Harvey  Company,  one  of  the  largest  manufacturers 
of  galvanized  sheet  iron  in  the  country. 

Average  price  oj  galvanized  sheet  iron,  No.  24  gauge. 
[The  same  proportion  holds  good  for  all  other  gauges.] 


Year. 

List  price 
per  pound. 

Discount. 

Net  price 
per  pound. 

1888... 

Cents. 
13 

65  and  5  per  cent 

Cents. 
4.32J 

1889  

13 

67i  and  2  per  cent 

4.12 

1890  

13 

67*  per  cent 

4.22$ 

1891  

13 

67J  and  5  per  cent 

4.  OH 

1892  (up  to  July)  

14 

70  and  10  per  cent    . 

3.78 

This  statement  shows  that  while  the  list  price  was  advanced 
1  cent  per  pound,  as  claimed,  that  the  discounts  from  this  list 
were  simultaneously  increased  from  67£  and  5  per  cent  to  70  and 
10  per  cent,  resulting  in  a  net  reduction  instead  of  an  increase 
in  price.  The  table  submitted  shows  a  gradual  decline  in  price 
from  1888  up  to  the  present  time.  I  will  print  in  the  RECORD 
the  letter  of  the  company  referred  to  transmitting  the  table. 

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It  disproves  in  every  respect  the  other  allegations  contained  in 
the  statement  of  the  Senator  from  Missouri. 

There  is  another  allegation  made  by  the  critics  of  the  tin-plate 
duty  which  perhaps  should  he  noticed.  It  is  that  a  considera- 
ble portion  of  the  tin  plate  produced  here  is  manufactured  from 
imported  black  plates.  Fortunately,  however,  the  statistics  of 
production  for  the  quarter  just  closed  state  the  proportions  made 
from  foreign  and  domestic  plates,  and  establishes  the  inaccuracy 
of  the  claim.  This  allegation  was  based  upon  certain  compara- 
tive statistics  of  the  importation  of  rolled  sheets.  This  compar- 
ison does  not  take  into  account,  however,  the  amount  of  sheets 
thinner  than  No.  25,  wire  gauge,  that  were  imported  prior  to  Oc- 
tober, 1890,  as  taggers'  iron.  Most  of  the  thin  black  sheets  im- 
ported under  the  old  tariff  law  were  imported  as  taggers'  iron, 
whatever  might  have  been  their  character,  on  account  of  the 
lower  rate  of  duty  on  this  description.  Importations  under  this 
classification  were  more  than  12,000,000  pounds  in  1889. 

Under  the  tariff  act  of  1883  the  cotton-ties  used  in  the  United 
States  were  imported.  Since  the  enactment  of  existing  law 
the  American  manufacturer  of  cotton- ties  has  supplied  the  entire 
demand,  and  they  are  said  at  a  lower  cost  to  the  consumer. 
The  imposition  of  adequate  protective  duties  upon  lace  window- 
curtains,  silk  and  mohair  plushes,  pearl  buttons,  and  many  other 
articles  has  transferred  important  industries  to  the  United 
States. 

We  are  now  producing  a  large  variety  of  the  finer  and  more 
expensive  manufactures  of  cotton,  wool,  and  iron,  all  of  which 
were  imported  prior  to  1890.  Manufacturers  are  enlarging 
their  capacity  for  production,  and  in  every  branch  of  industry 
the-  greatest  activity  prevails.  Some  manufactures,  notably 
that  of  woolen  goods,  were  dull  and  lifeless  for  a  considerable 
period  subsequent  to  the  adoption  of  the  act  on  account  of  exces- 
sive competition  with  the  enormous  amounts  of  foreign  goods 
that  had  been  imported  in  anticipation  of  an  advance  of  duties 
and  prices.  These  stocks  have  been  largely  dispossd  of. 

The  condition  of  the  woolen  industry  is  shown  by  the  following 
extract  from  the  Boston  Herald,  the  leading  tariff-reform  news- 
paper in  the  country,  under  date  of  July  15,  1832: 

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Where  is  the  idle  woolen  mill  to-day?  Indeed  there  is  none,  or  the  number 
is  so  few  that  they  are  not  worth  counting.  Not  only  is  the  great  majority  of 
the  woolen  mills  employed,  but  many  of  the  manufacturers  are  contemplat- 
ing enlargements  and  improvements,  or  such  enlargements  and  improve- 
ments are  already  begun.  What  does  this  all  mean?  It  means  simply  the 
greatest  consumption  of  wool  that  the  country  has  known  for  years. 

In  the  iron  and  steel  industry  the  work  of  expansion  is  going 
on,  but  prices  are  very  low  and  profits  small. 

A  comparison  of  the  value  of  dutiable  merchandise  imported 
in  1892  with  the  importation  of  the  same  articles  in  1889  will 
furnish  an  indication  of  the  extent  to  which  the  market  of  the 
American  producer  has  been  enlarged  by  the  direct  operations 
of  the  act  of  1890. 

The  importations  of  these  articles  in  1889  amounted  in  value  to 
$389,000,000,  and  in  1892  to  $363,500,000,  or  a  decline  in  three  years 
of  $25,350,000.  If  the  value  of  the  imported  articles  of  this  class 
had  increased  at  the  same  ratio  with  the  increase  in  the  value  of 
all  importations,  the  importations  in  1892  would  have  been  $50,- 
000,000  greater  than  in  1889,  instead  of  $25,500,000  less.  It  would 
appear  from  this  comparison  that  articles  of  the  foreign  value  of  at 
least  $75,000,000,  were  produced  in  the  United  States  in  the  fiscal 
year  1892,  which,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  adoption  of  the  act  of 
1890,  would  have  been  imported.  If  we  add  a  portion  of  average 
rate  of  duty  to  this  sum  we  should  have  a  value  of  domestic  pro- 
duction redeemed  from  foreign  competitors  of  at  least  $100,000,000. 
This  production  would  furnish  employment  to  200,000  people  and 
support  nearly  a  million.  All  of  this  is  of  course  an  add  ition  to  the 
natural  growth  of  our  industries. 

Perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  statement  made  in  either  of 
the  Senator's  speeches  is  the  following: 
The  wool  manufacture  of  the  United  States  is  in  the  hands  of  a  trust. 

This  allegation,  that  there  is  a  trust  which  controls  the  man- 
ufacture of  woolens,  is  repeated  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri 
several  times  in  the  course  of  his  argument. 

It  is  the  climax  of  absurdity  to  say  that  the  business  of  woolen 
manufacturing  in  the  United  States  is  or  ever  has  been  controlled 
to  any  extent  by  a  trust.  No  such  trust  or  even  a  combination 
of  any  kind  has  ever  existed.  It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  make 
any  combination  that  would  or  could  control  prices  or  production 

727 


45 

of  woolen  goods,  as  the  number  of  establishments  is  so  great,  and 
the  styles  manufactured  of  such  infinite  variety. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  the  Senator  from  Missouri  could 
have  been  misled  into  making  this  statement.  I  have  never 
seen  the  allegation  anywhere  else;  and  yet  his  objections  to  the 
wool  and  woolen  duties  rest  largely  upon  the  positive  statement 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  trust. 

But  the  Senator  from  Missouri  does  not  stop  with  the  wool 
manufacturers'  trust.  He  presented  to  the  Senate  and  had  printed 
in  the  RECORD  on  the  28th  of  June  an  additional  list  of  so-called 
tariff  trusts,  one  hundred  in  number.  These  trusts,  the  Senator 
from  Missouri  claimed,  were  the  necessary  results  of  our  recent 
tariff  legislation, and  he  insists  that  by  their  operation  competition 
had  been  stifled  and  prices  advanced.  The  Senator  was  gracious 
enough  to  admit  that,  "If  there  were  no  trusts,  and  factories 
were  increased  in  any  department  of  industry  in  the  United 
States,  the  competition  between  manufacturers  would  bring  down 
the  prices;"  but  he  assumes  "that  this  legitimate  result  is  never 
allowed  to  obtain,  because  as  soon  as  the  manufacturers  secure 
the  tariff  duty,  they  get  together  to  destroy  the  competition  and 
form  combinations." 

For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  truth  in  regard  to  these 
alleged  trusts,  whose  imaginary  history  covers  more  than  twenty 
pages  of  the  CONGRESSIONAL  RECORD,  I  addressed  a  letter  to 
at  least  one  well-known  manufacturer  connected  with  each  of 
the  principal  industries  that  were  included  in  the  list.  I  sub- 
mit and  will  have  printed  in  the  RECORD  a  copy  of  my  letter  of 
inquiry,  and  of  the  replies  received.  No  attempt  was  made  to 
secure  replies  in  regard  to  industries  of  no  special  commercial 
importance,  or  where  the  nature  of  the  manufacture  was  such 
as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  combination  to  control  prices 
and  production. 

These  classes,  twelve  in  number,  include  brooms,  burial  cas- 
kets, skewers,  snaths,  vapor  stoves,  umbrellas,  borax,  pitch, 
sponges,  teazles,  and  trunks.  There  is  another  class  of  which 
no  replies  were  requested,  but  where  the  existence  of  combina- 
tions that  control  production  and  prices  to  a  greater  or  less  ex- 
tant is  well  known;  and  still  another,  to  whom  the  letter  of  in- 

727 


46 

quiry  was  sent,  but  who  failed  to  respond.  Both  these  latter 
classes,  eight  in  number,  include  celluloid,  matches,  oatmeal, 
rubber  gossamers,  smelters,  sugar,  stove  boards,  and  spool  bobbin 
and  shuttle.  As  there  is  no  duty  on  anthracite  coal  I  did  not 
take  the  trouble  to  investigate  the  so-called  anthracite  coal  trust. 

The  representatives  of  seventy-nine  industries  replied  to  my 
letter  of  inquiry.  Of  these  the  representatives  of  seventy-two 
deny  in  the  most  emphatic  manner  the  existence  of  any  trust 
in  the  industries  with  which  they  are  connected.  Most  of  them, 
as  will  be  seen  by  an  examination  of  the  letters,  denying  in  de- 
tail all  the  statements  published  by  the  Senator  from  Missouri. 
Seven  of  the  parties  denied  the  existence  of  a  trust,  but  admit- 
ted in  a  qualified  way  the  existence  of  combinations  which  were 
intended  to  be  more  or  less  effective  in  controlling  prices. 

It  appears  from  the  answers  received  that  in  none  of  the  in- 
dustries reported  upon  is  there  a  trust  in  existence,  or  even  a 
combination  created  with  a  view  to  control  prices  and  produc- 
tion, whose  creation  was  the  result  of  the  tariff  or  of  protective 
duties,  and  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of  the  small  number  of 
existing  combinations  has  had  the  effect  to  increase  the  cost  of 
the  articles  manufactured  to  consumers. 

The  complete  and  crushing  character  of  the  denials  can  only 
be  appreciated  by  a  carefuL  examination  of  the  letters  them- 
selves. I  would  be  glad,  if  time  permitted,  to  read  them  all  in 
the  presence  of  the  Senate.  I  will  ask  to  have  a  few  read  by  the 
Secretary  to  indicate  the  character  of  the  whole. 

I  feel  that  I  owe  you  an  apology  for  taking  the  time  of  the 
Senate  in  the  extended  examination  of  Mr.  WARNER'S  list  of 
socalled  trusts.  The  statement  as  a  whole  bore  upon  its  face 
convincing  evidence  of  its  unreliable  character.  It  is  simply  a 
collection  of  miserable  libels  on  the  men  who  control  and  con- 
duct the  great  business  enterprises  of  the  country.  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  the  time  spent  in  exposing  its  true  charac- 
ter has  been  wasted,  as  I  can  not  believe  that  the  intelligent 
people  of  any  community  would  give  credence  to  such  prepos- 
terous statements. 

It  is  very  evident,  however,  from  the  declarations  of  the  Sen- 
ator from  Missouri  that  this  paper  is  to  be  printed  and  circulated 

697 


47 

in  large  numbers  throughout  the  country  in  the  approaching 
campaign,  and  for  this  reason  I  have  been  induced  to  place  the 
facts  upon  the  public  records,  where  they  can  be  known  and  read 
of  all  men. 

I  have  attempted  to  answer  all  the  objections  to  the  act  of  1890 
that  have  been  brought  to  my  attention;  but  I  have  no  idea  that 
the  work  of  the  friends  of  protection  in  this  direction  is  ended, 
as  the  crop  of  such  misrepresentations  is  perennial. 

There  is  no  limit  to  the  ingenuity  or  resources  of  the  persons 
employed  in  manufacturing  statistics  for  the  purpose  of  break- 
ing down  the  protective  system. 

There  has  been  heretofore,  however,  no  halting  or  turning 
aside  in  the  triumphal  march  of  the  American  people  to  indus- 
trial success  and  independence  by  reason  of  the  fabrications' 
prophesies,  or  hysterical  cries  of  professional  reformers;  and  as 
I  have  unbounded  faith  in  the  brave  and  vigorous  men,  the  best 
fruits  of  American  civilization,  who  are  now  leading  the  way  to 
greater  achievements,  I  do  not  bslieve  that  their  progress  in 
the  future  will  be  retarded  by  those  who  stand  by  the  wayside 
and  make  faces  at  the  moving  column. 

There  is  no  permanent  place  in  American  politics  for  a  party 
that  bases  its  claims  for  popular  support  on  the  failures  and  dis- 
appointment of  the  people. 

The  purpose  of  the  act  of  1890,  as  repeatedly  stated  by  its  advo- 
cates on  this  floor,  was  to  provide  for  the  better  security  and  the 
greater  development  of  American  industries  and  to  maintain 
the  high  level  of  wages  then  existing  in  the  United  States.  The 
claims  and  expectations  of  the  framersof  the  measure  have  been 
more  than  realized.  Through  its  various  provisions  it  has  en- 
larged the  markets,  both  foreign  and  domestic,  of  American 
producers.  It  has  secured  the  establishment  of  new  industries 
and  given  vitality  and  expansion  to  old  ones. 

It  has  quickened  the  pulsations  of  trade,  given  a  new  impetus 
to  agriculture  as  well  as  to  manufactures  and  commerce.  By  its 
revival  of  activities  in  every  direction  it  has  given  profitable 
employment  and  certainty  of  earnings  to  all  classes  of  the  people. 
It  has  directed  American  enterprise  into  new  channels  and  given 
wider  scope  to  the  genius  of  American  inventors.  It  has  afforded 

727 


48 

the  opportunity  for  production  in  the  United  States  of  all  the 
finer  and  more  difficult  manufactures  in  every  branch,  indus- 
tries which  will  demand  from  our  artisans  and  skilled  workmen 
greater  artistic  taste  and  a  higher  mental  development. 

The  beneficial  effect  which  the  entrance  upon  these  new  and 
broader  industrial  fields  will  have  in  quickening  the  national 
life  and  broadening  the  national  experience  can  not  be  measured 
by  the  sum  which  the  establishment  of  these  industries  will  add 
to  the  national  income. 

The  declared  purpose  of  the  Democratic  party  to  repeal  this 
act  immediately  upon  their  return  to  power  is  certain  to  pro- 
voke a  lively  opposition  to  their  political  restoration. 

We  can  await  the  result  of  this  contest  with  calm  confidence. 
The  plain  people  of  the  United  States  have  too  much  good  sense 
and  discernment  to  mistake  pretentious  platitudes  for  philosophy. 
They  are  not  likely  to  exchange  the  certainty  of  satisfactory 
earnings  and  savings,  of  constant  employment  and  comfortable 
homes,  for  Democratic  promises  of  a  millennium  that  is  to  follow 
revolution.  These  promises  are  but  the  shadows  of  the  unknown 
for  which  an  intelligent  people  will  not  surrender  the  substance 
of  a  present  and  abundant  prosperity. 

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